Greentech Lead Asia: Solarco, a solar energy producer in Thailand, will get $85 million loan from The Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the construction of three solar plants, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
The 57 MW solar projects will be developed at three main sites in Nakhonpathom and Suphanburi provinces in central Thailand.
ADB has already approved a $52 million loan for Solarco, a unit of Electricity Generating (EGCO) Public Co. An additional $33 million will be given to Solarco through the ADB Clean Technology Fund, the report said.
EGCO has plans to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy to more than 300 megawatts by 2015 from 9.9 megawatts of biomass and 64 megawatts of solar capacity currently.
ADB has strong focus on Thailand’s solar energy sector. Due to natural calamities and the impact of global slowdown Taiwan’s GDP growth was down to 0.1% in 2011. The economy is expected to rebound in 2012 as lower interest rates, post-flood reconstruction, and supply-chain normalization lead to recovery, according to ADB.
Earlier this month ADB has also approved two other solar projects in the country, as per the information on ADB website. One of them, with a total installed capacity of 50 MW, will be implemented in Chaiyaphum and Ayutthaya Provinces. Another project approved by ADB involves construction of 2 solar power generation plants, a smaller 8 MW plant and a larger 30 MW plant in the Ayutthaya Province.