Japanese regional utility firm Shizuoka Gas Co. will enter the industrial natural gas supply business in Thailand next year through an investment in a local firm and develop new Japanese corporate customers in the Southeast Asian country.

On Aug. 5, Shizuoka Gas agreed with Scan Inter Public Co., a Thailand-based natural gas supplier, to acquire 49 percent of shares in Thai-Japan Gas Network Co. within the year, according to the Japanese company based in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

Thai-Japan Gas Network was established by Scan Inter in March in Nonthaburi Province, north of Bangkok, as a spin-off company to strengthen supply businesses for industrial compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas.

The acquisition is planned for the end of 2021, a Shizuoka Gas official told NNA last week, without disclosing the investment amount.

Thai-Japan Gas Network has a registered capital of 412 million Thai baht ($12 million), and Scan Inter plans to hold the remaining 51 percent stake.

Shizuoka Gas began considering the investment last year after learning that Scan Inter, Thailand's largest CNG supplier, aims to expand its business in anticipation of further conversion from coal and heavy oil to natural gas in Thailand amid global efforts toward decarbonization, the official said.

At the time of the establishment of the spin-off company, Shizuoka Gas and Scan Inter had already started discussing the investment, he added.

It marks Shizuoka Gas's third project in Thailand, following a 2015 gas power generation project and a 2021 solar power generation project, the utility company said. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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