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Marubeni Corp, Alstom to build cleaner coal-fired power plant in Thailand

Japan's Marubeni Corp said on Tuesday it and French engineering group Alstom had won a $1 billion contract to build a 600 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Thailand that would use cleaner technology than traditional plants.

The new plant will replace some existing units at Mae Moh power plant in the northern Thai province of Lampang held by state-owned power producer Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), trading house Marubeni said in a statement.

Burning lignite mined from a neighbouring coal mine, the new units will use so-called ultra-supercritical technology that emits less carbon dioxide than conventional coal plants.

Alstom group will supply the main equipment such as boilers, steam turbines and generators while Marubeni is in charge of supplying other equipment plus civil and installation work.

Alstom said on Monday that the deal was worth more than 950 million euros ($1.03 billion) and that its share was worth about 520 million euros.

The deal is the latest in a series of overseas power generation projects won by Japanese trading houses.

Last October, Marubeni said it would build a 1,800-2,000 megawatt coal-fired plant in Myanmar in a venture with Thai utilities for a total investment of 300-350 billion yen ($2.46-$2.87 billion).

Mitsui & Co Ltd said in June last year it would build and operate a $3.3 billion coal-fired power plant in Malaysia in cooperation with a local state-owned company.

source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com