Sun is Shining on Thai Solar Energy PCL

Sun is Shining on Thai Solar Energy PCL

Thai Solar Energy PCL (SET:TSE) Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer, Cathleen Maleenont, Ed.D. discusses the company's strategy and
outlook in The Executive Talk (TET) by ShareInvestor.com.

TET: Please explain the history and business model of TSE

The company was formed eight years ago with the aim to be a long-term
participant in the renewable energy industry in Thailand and the region. In
the past seven years, we have built 85 MW's of solar farms in Western
Thailand that are already selling to the grid. Following on from this 85 MW
we expanded into solar rooftops with the Mall Group and Home Pro Plc was
awarded 14 rooftops with a 1 MW size for each thus 14 MW's. During this
period we decided to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. In October 2014
with 99 MW's to diversify our funding sources and raise capital for future
projects which arrived in Japan where we have completed four solar farms of
8 MW's and another 50 MW's of projects in the process of construction. More
recently we won an additional 1 MW with the solar farm project for
government agencies and agricultural cooperatives and acquired three biomass
plants with 18 MW's that utilize woodchip as a raw material.

TET: Why did TSE decide to expand into other types of renewable energy and
what other ventures are you looking at?

We investigated the other renewables and for Thailand we see that biomass
has very attractive metrics for multiple reasons such as the ability to be
operational for 24 hours a day and the abundance of raw material in Thailand
such as bark. With the other renewables such as hydro, waste to energy or
wind, despite there being some positives there were inherent challenges that
led to limited opportunities. Internally we have also setup a division to
seek commercial buildings and factories for solar panel installation. This
will help reduce electricity expense that arise from a discount to the
current electricity rate. We are hopeful of continuing to expand this
business line and aim to secure 50-100 MW by next year.

TET: Why has Japan become a popular destination for TSE and other renewable
companies?

It was a matter of timing, Japan unfortunately had a tragic natural disaster
when the Tsunami hit in 2011. Because of that event the Japanese Government
proceeded on a new power development plan requiring that 2 GW of the
country's power will be derived from renewable energy within the next four
to five years. This is a good opportunity and the fastest source of
renewable power that can be built is solar which is why it has become an
attractive for several players from Thailand, Korea and China to invest into
Japan. Financially the returns of our initial projects there are similar to
what we can achieve in Thailand because the FIT fee for the first phase was
40, 36 or 32 Yen which compensated for the higher development costs, since
then the FIT fee has decreased to 24 Yen which presents new challenges for
future projects but for TSE our projects in Japan range between 32, 36 and
40 Yen.

TET: How does the rate of change in solar and renewable technology impact
TSE?

Technology is changing rapidly and this is positive development for the
world, the industry and TSE. Internally we are discussing continuously about
these changes and we can expect multiple new developments. Some examples are
that in the future solar panels will be smaller in size but more efficient,
or in battery technology that will allow solar to be a 24/7 producer of
power in the future. In the other renewable industries there are also fast
advancements in technology.

TET: How do you view the industry developing in Thailand and the region?

The industry has moved in a manner similar to the developed countries in
Europe such as Germany or Italy where the initial support for the industry
came from the government and the business shifts to a B2B or B2C model. We
can see that occurring here in Thailand and that renewable energy becomes
more of a commodity. Within the region, we think that Thailand is one of the
pioneers and that we can provide the knowledge transfer to AEC countries. We
have been looking at expanding into countries in ASEAN such as the
Philippines as it is an interesting market.

TET: What are the biggest risks facing your business?

In Thailand there has been strong tailwinds from the government sector in
the past that helped to support the growth which have now diminished due to
the reduction of production cost and thus we have to focus on how we can
ensure continuous growth as a publicly listed company. When we first
expanded outside of Thailand or into biomass we must fully understand the
risks and all parameters involved whether it be foreign exchange, new
technology, a country's stability, we have to be hands on to ensure that
these new endeavors succeed.

TET: Where do you see TSE in five years from now?

We want to be amongst the top three renewable companies within the region
continuing our international standards of business. The projects that we
have completed and are completing are of international standard that will be
operational for the next 25 to 30 years. We believe in a culture of
excellence and have a strong team from the board to the management to the
operations level that take into account our stakeholders best interests.
With what TSE has built we can see the road ahead and believe that we can
achieve it.

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Link to Original Article:
http://en.acnnewswire.com/press-release/english/33309/sun-is-shining-on-thai
-solar-energy-pcl-(set:tse)

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com