Filinvest plans 1,650-MW power portfolio

Manila Times.net

FILINVEST Development Corp. (FDC) will install up to 1,650 megawatts of power generating capacity, which is expected to account for a third of the conglomerate’s business in the next five years.

The Gotianun-led holding firm, through FDC Utilities Inc., will build four power plants running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, Jesus Alcordo, FDC Utilities president, said on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

Alcordo said FDC Utilities, the holding company for the conglomerate’s power ventures, expects to spend about $1 million to $1.1 million per megawatt or about $1.82 billion for the LNG plants, which will be operational by 2014 to 2015.

The company’s power venture is in response to the increasing demand for electricity in the next few years and the need to develop alternative energy sources to improve the country’s energy security through diversification.

“We feel demand for power will be there. It’s a good industry to be in and it’s a steady type of income stream business,” said Josephine Gotianun-Yap, FDC president and chief executive.

About 80 percent of its power plants will be funded through project financing, which will be obtained from local and foreign banks. The company will also use internally generated cash as well as capital raising activities to raise funds for the power facilities.

FDC is also eyeing strategic partners for its planned venture to power, Yap said

The conglomerate is in the final stages of firming up its gas supply by next month, which will be sourced from other Asean countries and Australia.

The Filinvest Group wants to distribute its products to fuel buses and taxis.

“The company decided to use LNG as the fuel because it is more efficient, it’s a lot cleaner for the environment and it has much less carbon dioxide emission,” Alcordo said.

FDC is also gearing up for its participation in the bidding of the remaining independent power producer administrator assets, such as the 110-megawatt Naga thermal plant.

In the first quarter, FDC reported a consolidated net income of P1.15 billion, up 20 percent from the P952.40 million reported in the same period last year on the strength of its real estate and financial services units.
Its shares rose to P5.04 on Friday from P4.90 each on Thursday.KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE