ITOCHU Corp. of Japan is looking into other renewable-energy (RE) sources in the country, apart from the ethanol-production facility it expects to put up soon in Isabela.
Kenichi Hisatomi, Itochu general manager, said, “We have started evaluation for other renewable-energy projects like wind, hydro and solar but we are only in the beginning stages,” Hisatomi said.
He added that some of the prospects they are looking at already have existing feasibility studies.
Hisatomi pointed out, however, that the establishment of the feed-in tariff is also important.
“We are waiting for it before we decide on which project to pursue,” he said.
Hisatomi earlier said his company and its partners in Green Future Innovations Inc. are waiting for the certification from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) before it starts constructing its proposed 50-million liters of ethanol facility in Isabela.
“The project has recently been approved by the Peza Board. And we will start construction [of the plant] very soon,” the Itochu said.
GFI is a venture composed of Japan’s Itochu Corp., JGC Corp., the Philippines Bioethanol and Energy Investments Corp., and Taiwanese holding company GCO in San Marino, Isabela.
Hisatomi said a third of the project cost will be funded through equity and two-thirds will be funded through a loan from BDO.
“Once we get the Peza certification, we can drawdown the loan.”
Hisatomi dismissed ideas of expansion, saying they want to focus on producing 50 million liters first.
“Since, the project is related to agriculture, [such as in] the sugar plantation, so we should know the real situation of the agriculture sector,” he said.
Hisatomi also pointed out the need for the Department of Energy to finalize importation guidelines to protect domestic ethanol, as well as the import duty on ethanol from Brazil.
“I think you should have some kind of protection against ethanol [from] outside [the] country. Unless the importation guideline and import duties are imposed, then the oil companies we are in talks with cannot make a decision. Without the guidelines and tariff, oil companies turn to the international market where they get to import cheaper ethanol,” he said.
Itochu’s project is targeted to start commercial operation by 2012 and will add another 54 million liters of ethanol to the energy sector.
The investment will produce ethanol from an 11,000-hectare sugar-cane plantation in and around San Mariano’s 30-kilometer radius, and will also convert bagasse to electricity in its 19-megawatt (MW) power plant, projecting a 13-MW contribution to the Luzon grid in the future.
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