Bangkok Post
June 6, 2000

GMS Power will sign an agreement with China’s Yunnan electricity bureau for a hydro-electric project worth US$2 billion.

A GMS Power executive said the pact to be signed on Thursday would include a joint venture between Chinese partners and the firm, formerly named MDX Power.

The Thai firm would hold a 70% stake in the venture, with the remaining 30% held by the Chinese Power Corporation, the Yunnan Electricity Generating Authority and the provincial government.

The Jinghong power project is envisioned as generating 1,500 megawatts (MW) capacity, with a completion date scheduled for 2014.

The project is covered by a memorandum signed by the Thai and Chinese governments. Thailand will buy 3,000 MW of electricity from China over five to seven years starting in 2017.

The source said GMS was seeking co-investors for the project, particularly Japanese. The project will cost US$ 1-2 billion plus $800 million for the transmission system .

However, he said there were risks as well as benefits from the project as the transmission system would pass through either Burma or Laos. It was possible that part of the network would be split from the main project. The consortium might not invest in the transmission, which could come under the joint-government programme for the Greater Mekong Subregion.

GMS Power’s major shareholder is Subin Pinkayan, a former commerce minister. The company now operates the 187 MW Thuen Hinboun hydro project and 430MW Nam Ngum3 power development project in Laos.