New IPP makes GULF profits surge

New IPP power plant - Power plant profit sharing and INTUCH boost GULF's profits, reveals joint venture company preparing to introduce 600,000 tons of LNG this year, all new businesses proceed according to plan, reiterates first phase 25 MW data center to open in April 68 Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited (GULF) reported its operating results for Q2/67 with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 4,741 million baht, an increase of 64.3% YoY and 35.5% QoQ, while core profit was 4,779 million baht, an increase of 34% from 3,556 million baht in the same quarter of the previous year and 15% QoQ, although total revenue was 32,617 million baht, a decrease of 3% from Q2/66 due to lower average electricity selling prices from lower natural gas prices and Ft rates. The Group's improved performance was mainly due to the growth of the natural gas power plant business. The Gulf Pluak Daeng (GPD) project, an IPP power plant under the IPD Group with a total installed capacity of 2,650 MW, commenc ed commercial operation of Unit 3 in March 2024. As a result, in Q2/2024, GULF recognized the full quarter operating results of GPD projects, Units 1-3 (total installed capacity of 1,987.5 MW), which have been gradually commenced commercial operation since 2023. The Hin Kong Power Plant (HKP) project, an IPP power plant with a total installed capacity of 1,540 MW, commenced commercial operation of Unit 1 (770 MW) in March. As a result, GULF recognized the full quarter operating profit of HKP project, Unit 1 in this quarter. In the digital business, the Group's GSA DC data center business is under construction. The first phase, which has a capacity of 25 MW, is scheduled to open for service in April 2025. The Company plans to expand the data center by another 25 MW in the second phase within the same area, for a total of 50 MW. The GSA DC will focus on using clean energy and is designed to support the demand for GPUs for data processing (cloud computing). As organizations are currently moving towards digital transformation from big data, IoT and AI, such AI workloads require GPUs to process data, which require a lot of energy and use liquid cooling systems to cool it. The main customers of the GSA DC are hyperscalers, enterprises and government agencies. The cloud business, in which the company has collaborated with Google to provide Google Distributed Cloud air-gapped services, is planned to be launched in mid-2025, with target customers including organizations that need to store and process sensitive or confidential data. Google Cloud users can choose to store data at the company's GSA DC data center. In addition, the company is looking to expand its business cooperation to other services in the future, including AI and cybersecurity. As for the merger between GULF and INTUCH, it is currently in the process, and the establishment of a new company (NewCo) is expected to be completed in Q2/2025. Source: Thai News Agency