Thailand has an aggressive plan to increase its alternative energy consumption from 12.2% -25% over the next 10 years. This, plus its abundance of land and sunlight, a clear legal framework and a supportive banking environment has led to rapid growth in its solar power industry.

Anwell Technologies, which forayed into solar panel manufacturing two years ago.

The 11-megawatt (MW) solar plant commenced operations in Thailand this Oct and was built by Anwell’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sungen.

To seize the opportunities in Thailand, on 18 May 2012, Sungen inked a deal to acquire 100% in a Thai-licensed power supplier for S$4.8 million in cash.

The newly acquired subsidiary, Lopburi Solar, has a power purchase agreement from the Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand (PEA) to supply up to 5 MW a year to PEA for 10 years.

Solar power projects contributed 50.5% to group revenue, up from 31.9% in 3Q2011. Another 44.4% was contributed by the manufacture of optical discs, while 5.1% came from the manufacture of equipment for optical discs and solar power.

Its optical media business also did well. Segment margins improved to 22.35% in 3Q2012 compared to 0.05% in 3Q2011, thanks to better selling prices for its optical discs and a reduction in depreciation after it took an impairment on machinery in 4Q2011.