Temasek Affiliate And Thai Firm Set To Sign Deal

[Jai Dee]

Temasek affiliate and Thai firm set to sign deal

Udon Thani: An energy firm affiliated to Singapore's Temasek Holdings is poised to spend a billion baht in a joint venture with a Thai firm to build a plant producing bioethanol in the northeastern province of Udon Thani. Jindarat Thawiltemsap, managing director of Bioethanol (Thailand) Co, and Ngok Xix Xuang, vice-president of Sinoco Power Singapore Co, informed Governor Jaruek Parinyapol in a meeting on Wednesday that the plant will have the capacity to produce up to three million litres of bioethanol from cassava roots per day.

Mrs Jindarat said there was a strong likelihood that Sinoco Power Singapore would enter into a joint venture with her company for the bioethanol factory project.

The company is an affiliate of Temasek Holdings, which bought the Shinawatra family's Shin Corp for more than 70 billion baht early this year in a deal that sparked massive protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is expected that a memorandum of understanding will be signed soon, Mrs Jindarat said.

Mr Ngok said his firm wanted to find alternative fuels and create more income for farmers amid oil price hikes.

''In the initial stage, about 200 rai of land will be used for the construction of the factory, which will produce 200,000 litres of bioethanol a day with modern machinery from Germany,'' said Mr Ngok.

''In the future, when we are ready, the production capacity will be increased to one to three million litres a day. The firm also plans to generate electricity from farm produce for the factory, which will need up to 10 million megawatts, and will sell the rest to Thailand.''

Source: Bangkok Post - 19 May 2006