05/01/2012 (The Nation) - PTT plans to invest 10 per cent of its capital expenditure in the green business by 2020.

Sukrit Surabotsopon, senior executive vice president for petrochemicals and refining, said yesterday that the capex budget for PTT Group, excluding PTT Exploration and Production, was about Bt100 billion per year.

PTT units spearheading the green focus include PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), PTT International and PTT Green Energy.

PTT has already invested in bioplastics production, palm oil in Indonesia, hydropower in Xaiyaburi, Laos, and solar power.

PTTGC has reached an agreement to acquire 50 per cent of NatureWorks from Cargill. NatureWorks is the world's leading manufacturer of polylactic acid.

After the share purchase, PTTGC will set up a bioplastics plant costing US$200 million to $300 million (Bt6.3 billion to Bt9.5 billion) in an industrial park in Rayong with production capacity of 140,000 tonnes per year.

The plant is expected to be completed within three years.

PTTGC is also growing oil palms on 20,000 hectares in Indonesia and aims to expand the plantation to 200,000 hectares. It sells crude palm oil to biodiesel producers and the chemical industry.

It is conducting a feasibility study on the solar-power business and on energy produced from algae.

The group's green push is in line with the government's policy of supporting that industry and turning Thailand into Asia's bio-energy hub.

PTT has opened a pavilion at the BOI Fair to highlight energy saving and greenhouse-gas reduction.