Mr. Somkiat Masunthasuwun, Chief Executive Officer of WHA Utilities and Power Public Company Limited (SET: WHAUP), expected the company’s performance in the second half of this year to improve in both power and water utilities business. This growth is primarily due to the demand for electricity from the data center group as it is likely to have high demand for electricity and water to generate power.
Although the demand for water from the petrochemical group is declining, WHAUP believes that it will return to normal levels in mid-term due to the new customer group that invests in Thailand, especially the data center customers, as they are likely to help increase the water demand.
Moreover, WHAUP is also seeing prepayment from the data center customer group to manage infrastructure investment. The company expected to see further transactions in the second half of the year.
As for the electricity energy, the demand from the data center group is significant. Therefore, WHAUP plans to utilize an investment model for large solar farming projects to generate sufficient power for the data center customers. Currently, the company is looking for land or direct investment to deliver power to the customer directly.
Another model is the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (Direct PPA), which will allow the energy producer to sell electricity of 2,000 megawatt (MW) to the large customer group through government cables. Although this model has several competitors, WHAUP has an advantage due to being the first company to negotiate with the customer.
Furthermore, WHAUP also has an opportunity to invest in new power plant technology, such as a small modular reactor (SMR), capable of generating clean energy and operating for the entire 24 hours.
Regarding the growth of WHAUP’s profit in the next three to five years, the company currently has a long-term selling power and water agreement that benefits from domestic investment expansion of the data centers. There is also the expansion of WHA group industrial estate, both in Thailand and Vietnam, which will increase the demand for energy and water significantly and greatly benefitting the company.
Furthermore, WHAUP estimated that the long-term power business is likely to grow significantly. Currently, the company has a generated capability of 991 MW, with 706 MW being commercialized, while the rest of about 285 MW is under development.
