Banpu expands in Texas

Temple II gas-fired power plant further strengthens Thai energy firm’s US business

SET-listed Banpu Power (BPP), the power generation arm of the energy conglomerate Banpu Plc, has completed a 16-billion-baht buyout of the Temple II gas-fired power plant in Texas to strengthen its power business in the United States.

The company earlier invested in the Temple I gas-fired power plant in August 2021. It has been realising revenue from electricity generation capacity 384 megawatts based on BPP’s shareholding.

Like Temple I, Temple II is a combined-cycle power plant, with a capacity of 755MW. Both facilities are located in the city of Temple, about 200 kilometres southwest of Dallas

“The two power plants create synergistic value, enabling us to efficiently operate and manage the power plants and this affords us greater opportunities to capture profits in merchant markets and optimise resource utilisation,” said Kirana Limpaphayom, chief executive of BPP.

The new investment was made through the BPP subsidiary Temple II Holdings II Llc, which bought all shares from CXA Temple 2 Llc, which owns and operates Temple II.

After the transaction, which was completed on July 10, Temple II will belong to BKV-BPP Power, a joint venture between Banpu Power US Corporation, a wholly owned BPP subsidiary, and BKV Corporation, which is mostly owned by Banpu Plc.

BKV-BPP Power owns a 100% share in Temple II Holdings II LLC.

Temple II has operated since August 2015. The facility, which is capable of generating immediate cash flow and aligns with Banpu’s greener and smarter energy strategy, is adjacent to Temple I.

The two plants are situated in a strategic location in the US.

“Texas is a state with abundant energy resources and the power plant employs state-of-the-art combined-cycle gas turbines,” said Mr Kirana.

The two new assets are well suited to meeting the demand from merchant markets, especially the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Mr Kirana said he believes the new assets will result in economies of scale in the merchant market. The additional capacity will also strengthen BPP’s competitive position in managing break-even points, he added.

The company has set a target to expand its power generation capacity to 5,300MW by 2025, up from 3,516MW based on BPP’s shareholding in power plants as of July 11.