Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Alsons takes off with initial 20-MW solar venture in GenSan



Published December 13, 2016, 10:01 PM By Madelaine B. Miraflor

The Alcantara power group will start with its solar investments on a take-off pitch of 20 megawatts due for implementation next year.
As divulged by Antonio Miguel B. Alcantara, corporate planning officer of the Power Business Unit of Alsons Consolidated Resources, Inc., that preliminary venture would be up for expansion by another 20 megawatts.
He said the first 20MW phase will require capital outlay of $30 million, based on the company’s estimates.
“Solar will be the focus next year…we are still getting PPA (power purchase agreement) with local cooperatives,” he said.
The planned sunlight-harnessed renewable energy facilities will be sited in General Santos City; wherein irradiation had been assessed to be of the best quality for solar farm developments.
The Alcantara group previously noted that its higher-end target of solar installations would be up to 150 megawatts – but developments shall be spread over several years.
Given the scale of solar plants’ land use, the company noted that part of its serious consideration had been on the impact of such ventures to the food segment of its business – especially so since massive scale of their properties are used for banana plantation and cattle-raising.
Alsons noted this is the best time for them to go into solar given the precipitous slide in the cost of the technology – that ventures would no longer need subsidies or feed-in-tariffs to thrive.
In fact, the Department of Energy under Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi’s leadership has already given a “death blow” to the industry’s bid for third round of FIT incentives.
For project sponsors and developers, their options shall be bilateral contracts with capacity buyers (off-takers) or trading their capacity at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

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