Egat governor Kraisri Karnasuta said the authority had planned a total bond issue of Bt15.5 billion this year but had revised the figure to Bt12 billion. Including the Bt1-billion bond issue in the first half, Egat would need to issue Bt11 billion more in the latter half.

Kraisri said the Bt12-billion fund would be enough to finance the construction of four new power plants - two in Bangkok and one each in Songkhla and Chachoengsao. Each year, the four plants would require an investment of about Bt30 billion to Bt40 billion.

Kraisri said Egat was ready to make additional investments in new power plants, planned under the 15-year power development plan. Under the plan, Egat needs to invest in 16 power plants with a combined capacity of 12,400 megawatts. Inclusive of the transmission grids, Egat would need to invest a total of Bt1.37 trillion.

"Our debt-to-equity ratio is still low and this allows us to borrow in the future if we should need more money. Moreover, we can divert operating profits to finance the investment," he said.

At the end of 2006, Egat's assets were valued at Bt360 billion against liabilities of Bt163 billion. The shareholders' equity was worth Bt200.6 billion, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.811:1.