Mekong - U.S. Partnership
With support from USAID’s Private Financing Advisory Network-Asia (USAID PFAN-Asia), Smo Thong Biomass Co. recently signed a memorandum of understanding with a strategic equity investor for $12.6 million to develop a biomass power project based in southern Thailand.
The plant will use empty shells from palm oil production for fuel, transforming the organic waste into 9.5 megawatts of renewable energy that will be sold to Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority through a power purchase agreement. The project supports the government’s initiative to reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports, as well as to avoid or reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Following an investment readiness assessment, USAID PFAN-Asia provided further support to the project to refine its financial model and review and structure the first round of outside investment.
Source: USAID/RDMA Regional Environment Office Weekly Update
