Dow Jones
August 24, 2006

The state-owned Thai utility is to set up a new unit soon, EGAT International Ltd., which will undertake construction of the Hutgyi dam on the Salween River in Burma along with the state-owned Chinese firm Sinohydro.

Bangkok: State-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will invest in a total of four overseas projects in Myanmar and Laos through a wholly owned unit that it will soon set up, EGAT’s acting chairman said Thursday. Norkun Sitthiphong, who is also Thailand’s deputy permanent secretary of energy, told reporters that an extraordinary board meeting Thursday approved details of the new unit’s establishment. EGAT International Ltd. will be set up with around THB500 million in capital. It will invest in four key projects. … The second project involves building a hydropower station and dam in Myanmar. The Hutgyi dam project, worth around THB44 billion, will be built on the Salaween River in Myanmar with an installed capacity of 600 megawatts. EGAT recently signed a deal with the Chinese government for a 50:50 investment in the project.