Eastern Sugar postpones biomass power plant

The Eastern Sugar Group Co. Ltd. (ES), Thailand’s ninth-largest sugar producer, suspended its investment in a 2.4 billion baht (US$68.36 million) electricity-generating project as power demand has slowed along with the world economy. ES President and Chief Executive Khunying Natthika Angubolkul said the company had previously planned to expand the capacity of its biomass power generation to 20 megawatts (MW) from eight MW. Construction on the power plant was due to start in 2008 and completed in 2010. Operated by ES’s power arm ES Power, the plant was intended to integrate with the group’s sugar mills, maximizing the benefits from by-products of sugar production. (February 3, 2009)