FOUNDATION FRAMEWORK
186 of 195 applications to the Thailand Board of Investment ( BOI ) for power generation projects were renewable energy related .
Companies seeking clean energy opportunities in Thailand span the investment spectrum from Japanese and Korean power utilities to Chinese and European electric vehicle makers and US technology giants such as Amazon Web Services and Western Digital Corp .
In perhaps the most noticeable example of the clean energy revolution taking place in Thailand , the country that has long been one of the world ’ s leading manufacturers of cars and trucks powered by internal combustion engines has also become both the regional hub for electric vehicle production and its fastest-growing market .
This comes as a result of major investments by EV manufacturers such as BYD Co ., Great Wall Motor and SAIC of China , Mercedes Benz of Germany and newcomer Foxconn Technology Group of Taiwan , better known as the world ’ s largest contract maker of electronics , including Apple iPhones .
Foreign investors are far from the only major players at the heart of Thailand ’ s war on global warming . The country ’ s largest enterprise , stateowned Fortune 500-ranked PTT PCL – still largely known outside Thailand as an old-economy oil and gas company – is spending billions of dollars on clean energy investments . They include a $ 1 billion EV joint venture with Foxconn and a $ 100 million partnership with the world ’ s largest car battery maker , China ’ s Contemporary Amperex Technology , or CATL . boats replacing the noise and fumes of dieselpowered predecessors .
Elsewhere , Thailand ’ s rapid industrial expansion has aligned with the growth of B . Grimm Power , a publicly listed subsidiary of the B . Grimm group , a Thai conglomerate established in Bangkok 145 years ago by German pharmacist Bernhard Grimm and an Austrian partner .
In the 1990s , the company expanded into energy when it saw an opportunity to provide gas-fired electricity and steam to factories in the modern industrial parks springing up along Thailand ’ s Eastern Seaboard . Today , B . Grimm Power is a multinational conglomerate that is not only one of the leading private power producers in Thailand but also supplies clean energy from solar , wind and hydro projects across Asia and as far as Europe , the continent from which its founders originally hailed .
B . Grimm Power is itself no stranger to recordbreaking projects . In 2020 , it teamed up with EGAT and Energy China to build the world ’ s first 45-MW Hydro-floating Solar Hybrid plant that today floats atop the 288-square kilometre Sirindhorn Reservoir in northeastern Thailand .
Meanwhile , another state-owned power heavyweight , the Energy Generating Authority of Thailand , or EGAT , is transforming the country ’ s major reservoirs by topping them with floating solar farms to form some of the world ’ s largest dual-system power sources that deliver both solar and hydro-electric power .
The Thai private sector is also playing a major role , led by such companies as electric bus and boat maker Energy Absolute PCL and electricity producer B . Grimm Power PCL .
The contribution of Energy Absolute is claimed to be noticeable on the streets and waterways of central Bangkok , where public transport in recent years has become noticeably cleaner and quieter , the faint hum of electric buses and
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