The 67.5MW Sarahnlom wind farm, located on the border of the Nakhon Ratchasima and Lopburi provinces of Thailand, has successfully entered commercial operation. Mott MacDonald is lender’s technical advisor to Siam Commercial Bank on the project.
Owned by local firm Gunkul Engineering, Sarahnlom features the tallest wind turbines installed in the Asia-Pacific region, which measure 210m high from the ground to the tips of the blades. The wind farm will be capable of generating approximately 174.5 GWh of electricity per year, enough to power approximately 69,000 households.
Mott MacDonald performed technical due diligence during the project’s financing stage to help the scheme achieve financial close. This scope of works included reviewing the project’s participants, construction and operational execution plans, design, energy yield, schedule and contractual arrangements, as well as undertaking site suitability reports and environmental and social plans. The consultancy also performed construction monitoring services and will now monitor operations in an ongoing role throughout the loan period.
Rahul Kohli, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “We have worked for Siam Commercial Bank on a number of wind projects in Thailand. This experience proved significantly useful when alleviating any of their concerns about the country-specific challenges that would be faced on the scheme.”
“Sarahnlom will help Thailand achieve its goals of having 30% of its total energy consumption coming from renewable sources and a total of 3002MW installed wind capacity by 2036,” Rahul added.