Electricity Generating Public Company Limited or EGCO Group reported Bt2,357 million operating profit for the first quarter in 2020 and continued to operate its business according to the business continuity plan (BCP). The Company is strongly confident in its ability to operate its business smoothly and maintain high efficiency throughout the entire supply chain and in the progress of the construction of three major projects, which are expected to start commercial operation from 2020-2022 as planned.

Dr. Gumpanart Bumroonggit, Senior Executive Vice President – Strategy & Asset Management and Acting President of EGCO Group, disclosed that the Company’s operating profit (not including the effects of foreign exchange, deferred income tax, impairment of assets, valuation of financial instruments and lease income) was Bt2,357 million, a decrease of Bt558 million or 19% compared to the same period in 2019, mainly due to weaker performance of BLCP, Quezon and Xayaburi power plants.

“The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has a temporary impact on our operations,” said Dr. Gumpanart. “We have observed reduced dispatch due to lower domestic power consumption and the postponement of maintenance service at some overseas power plants to the second half of this year due to limitation on travel and equipment transport. In general, EGCO Group continues to operate our business seamlessly with high efficiency throughout the supply chain, thanks to our BCP prepared for both EGCO Group’s headquarters and all our power plants. We have regularly reviewed and updated our BCP to best respond to the rapidly changing environment. Until today, all our 28 power plants in Thailand and overseas have been continuously operating and seamlessly supplying electricity to the distribution system. The construction of our projects and new investment projects have all satisfactorily made progress as planned.”

The major achievements from the first quarter this year until today include solid progress of the three projects under construction. The Gangdong fuel cell project in South Korea has already been 91.55% completed and is expected to start commercial operation in the 4^th quarter of 2020. The Nam Theun 1 hydro power project in Lao PDR has achieved 69.23% completion and is expected to start commercial operation in the 2^nd quarter of 2022. The third is the Oil Pipeline Extension to Northeastern Region project, which is an energy-related business, has been 31.32% completed and is expected to start commercial operation in the 4^th quarter of 2021.

Considering new investment, EGCO Group has completely acquired 25% stake in Yunlin Holding GmbH (Yunlin) which holds entire stakes in the 640-MW offshore wind farm project in Taiwan. The share purchase was completed on 17 April 2020, marking a significantly new milestone in EGCO Group’s plan to expand its investment in new area in Taiwan.

“EGCO Group continues our commitment to expanding our business according to our operating plan, especially in electricity generation and energy services. While fossil-fuel and renewable energy power plants remain our core business and our area of expertise, we always seek opportunities to make new investment in related energy businesses, such as in the Smart Energy Solution which can increase added value and boost our overall performance. In addition, we are open about investment location and do not limit ourselves in only Thailand and the Asia Pacific. This makes us strongly confident in constant and sustainable future growth,” said Dr. Gumpanart.