Banpu

Banpu Public Company Limited

Type	Public
Traded as	SET: BANPU
Industry	Energy
Founded	May 16, 1983 (1983-05-16)
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
Key people	Krirkkrai Jirapate (Chairman of the board)
Products	Coal, Electricity
Revenue	US$3 billion (2014)
Net income	US$76 million (2014)
Total assets	US$6.4 billion (2014)
Total equity	US$1.9 billion (2014)
Website	www.banpu.com

Banpu Public Company Limited is a mining and power company in Thailand. It has coal mining operations in Thailand, Indonesia, and China, and coal-fired power generation operations in Thailand and China. Banpu plans also to invest in the Hong Sa lignite mine and power plant project in Laos.

In Thailand, Banpu operates coal mines in Lampang and Phayao Provinces, and has stakes in the BLCP, a 1,434 MW coal-fired power plant at Map Ta Phut, and in RATCH, a 3,645 MW power plant in Ratchaburi Province. It has also has five coal mines in Indonesia and two in China. Banpu agreed to buy Centennial Coal Co Ltd for US$2 billion on 5 July 2010.

Centennial Coal

In 2010 Banpu bought the Australian mining company Centennial Coal which operates 12 mines in New South Wales (NSW) supplying coal for export and approximately 40% of NSW's coal-fired electricity. Centennial Coal has been responsible for more than 900 pollution notices between 2000 and 2013 from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). In 2015 it was responsible for a major release of coal fines into the Wollangambe River and World Heritage listed areas of the Blue Mountains National Park. Centennial Coal has been dumping mine effluent into the Wollangambe River for approximately 30 years, effectively killing large sections of it. As of 2015, Centennial Coal has applied to extend the Springvale Mine, undermining swamps of "National Environmental Significance" and dumping up to 50 million litres a day of mine effluent into the Cox River which also flows through the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and into Sydney's water supply.

Hong Sa Lignite

The Hong Sa Lignite project was founded by and belonged to Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. (TLL) and Hong Sa Lignite (Lao PDR) Co., Ltd. (HLL) pursuant to a concession from 1992-1994. In 2005, Banpu entered into a joint venture with TLL and HLL to develop the project, but this agreement was terminated in 2006. A UNCITRAL arbitration found that the Lao government illegally terminated TLL's and HLL's concession (awarding it to Banpu) and ordered Laos to pay US$57 million in damages plus interest. Laos is refusing to pay the award despite its clear agreement with TLL and HLL, its government policy for international arbitration, and despite participating fully.

External links

• Company website