ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR CATEGORY
Dr. Harald Link
Chairman & PresidentB.Grimm Power Public Co., Ltd.
Energy Industry
www.bgrimmpower.com
Information about Entrepreneur
Dr. Harald Link is the Link’s third-generation leader of B.Grimm, established in 1878 in Thailand, a multinational conglomerate with businesses across energy, building and industrial systems, healthcare, transportation, lifestyle, real estate, digital and capital partners. He has been at the helm of B.Grimm for over 30 years. Under his leadership, B.Grimm continues to set its sights on the future while holding true to the company’s core belief of “Doing business with compassion for the development of civilisation in harmony with nature,” based on its values of positivity, partnership, professionalism and pioneering spirit.Harald Link started working at B.Grimm in 1978 after graduating with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from St. Gallen University in Switzerland. At the age of 23, he learned the family’s business from his uncle, Herbert Link, and his father, Dr. Gerhard Link. From 1981-1986, he sat on the company’s Executive Committee and became Chief Executive in 1987.
In 1997, Harald experienced the hardest time in his business career when B.Grimm was hit hard by Thailand’s financial crisis which saw the Thai Baht devalued by more than 50% almost overnight. After successfully overcoming this stormy period, B.Grimm continued to diversify further and in the 1990s ventured into the energy sector with its investment arm, B.Grimm Power, which went public in 2017, earning 27 billion Thai Baht in revenue in its first year, with gross profit of 8 billion Thai Baht. Today, B.Grimm Power has grown from its first greenfield industrial power plant in Amata City in Chonburi to one of Thailand’s fastest-growing industrial and renewable power producers.
Other Interesting Facts about Entrepreneur
Dr. Link is touted as one of Thailand’s foremost philanthropists. Keeping in line with his company’s compassionate philosophy, Dr Link actively engages in a multitude of social programmes. Interests close to his heart are education, environment, sports, music, religion and arts. He plays a leading role in supporting World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF-Thailand)’s ambitious Save the Tigers programme and reforestation across the country. He has been working with partners to end wildlife trafficking with a goal to stamp out the root cause of disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 70-75% of new emerging infectious disease are zoonotic and aggressive wildlife protection efforts will not only protect these creatures but also mitigate the severity of future pandemics.Doing business with compassion will increase the spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing of all and will also lead to sustainable prosperous businesses.
Company Achievements and
Role as Entrepreneur
As Chairman and President, Dr. Link, plans to ramp up B.Grimm
Power’s current generation capacity of over 3,000 megawatts to
over 7,000 megawatts by 2025. With its license to import Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG), the company is ready to start a new business by
selling electricity directly to real estate developers under a captive
Independent Power Supply (IPS) model.
Dr. Link is focused on the long-term goal of renewable energy as B.Grimm Power will be carbon-neutral by 2050. The company is pushing for energy transition ranging from decarbonisation, renewable energy and smart grids to green hydrogen production. The firm has obtained the first commercial green bond in Thailand and the first green project finance in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand (CLMVT) countries for B.Grimm’s renewable business.
B.Grimm Power has already produced renewable electricity in many countries. The firm is active in Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand and has started the first project in Indonesia. It is also in discussions with Myanmar and Malaysia. By the end of 2021, B.Grimm Power will probably be in nearly all the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and several outside ASEAN.
Vision, Mission & Future Plans
Dr. Link leads the company with the vision: “Empowering the World Compassionately”.The five capabilities which are essential to B.Grimm Power winning the future are the capability to find attractive opportunities, the capability to be an attractive partner of choice, the capability to build, operate, and maintain starting from greenfield, the capability to finance the company’s growth, at attractive rates and the capability to embrace digital transformation.
B.Grimm Power has a strong foothold across priority locations and business areas from which to expand its business, supported by excellent partners. The strategic initiatives of B.Grimm Power will empower the company to be a leading Utility Solution Provider.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
