The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Gulf Renewable Energy Company Limited (GRE), a subsidiary of Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF), have signed a $350 million loan agreement.
This landmark deal is designed to significantly boost Thailand’s green energy transition by expanding renewable energy generation capacity and supporting the decarbonization of the country’s power sector.
The financing package will facilitate the construction and development of three critical energy projects:
- Two solar-plus-battery energy storage systems (BESS) with a combined contracted capacity of 126 megawatts (MW) for solar generation and 151 megawatt-hours of energy storage.
- One solar power plant with a contracted capacity of 68 MW. Once operational, these projects are projected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 191,550 tons annually, directly contributing to Thailand’s national goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This initiative also aligns with Thailand’s 5-gigawatt renewable energy feed-in tariff program and marks Southeast Asia’s first large-scale solar and BESS procurement.
ADB served as the sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for the $350 million loan, which comprises a multi-faceted financing structure:
- ADB’s direct contribution: $75 million from its ordinary capital resources.
- B-loan: $50 million provided by DBS Bank Ltd.
- Parallel loans: $150 million from a consortium including DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc., and Export Finance Australia.
- ADB-administered fund: $75 million from Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2). The robust participation from these diverse cofinanciers underscores strong market confidence in the project’s strategic importance and commercial viability.
ADB Country Director for Thailand, Aaron Batten, emphasized the pivotal role of battery-integrated solar in establishing an affordable and reliable clean energy future for Thailand. GULF Chief Financial Officer Yupapin Wangviwat highlighted that through this collaboration, GULF and ADB are pioneering an innovative model for grid stability by integrating solar energy with large-scale battery storage, setting a crucial precedent for the energy sector in Thailand and across the region.
