TeaM Energy plans to build renewable-energy projects

BUSINESS MIRROR

MONDAY, 11 JULY 2011 18:28 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA / REPORTER

TEAM Energy Philippine Corp. (TeaM Energy)—the joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Marubeni Corp.—is looking at putting up renewable energy projects at it bids to help meet the country’s growing demand for electricity, Federico Puno, the company president, told reporters on Monday.

In a press conference, Puno said they are looking at five new areas in northern Luzon for mini-hydropower plant projects, which could each generate at least 5 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Apart from mini-hydropower plants, Puno said the company is also planning to put up a 10-MW solar power farm in Batangas and another one in Bulacan.

The solar farms will be connected directly to their prospective off-taker, which is an industrial plant. He declined to identify the company.

In terms of investments for TeaM Energy’s renewable energy portfolio, Puno said he could not provide an exact amount yet since they are still completing the feasibility studies.

He added that for development cost of renewable energy projects range between $2.5 million and $3.5 million per megawatt.

“We’re looking at the feasibility, even without the feed-in tariff (FIT) being set. We’re looking at putting it under non-FIT since it will not be connected to the grid since it will be installed inside the off-taker,” Puno said.

The TeaM Energy official said they are also considering putting up an 11-MW biomass power plant in Quezon that will use coconut leaves and husks as feedstock.

The problem, according to Puno, is the collection system, adding that the transport costs is sometime more expensive than the husks itself.

Since central collection system has yet to be put in place, Puno said most biomass power plant developers go to individual farms for their feedstock.

Puno pointed out that most of the biomass projects in the country failed because of the lack of a central collection system. “Nevertheless, we really hope start a project this year or at least early next year. We’re just completing most of the feasibility studies this year, and maybe we could start constructing some of them by next year,” he said.

TeaM Energy acquired the assets of Mirant Corp. in the Philippines in 2007, which included the Pagbilao and Sual plants and a 20-percent stake in the Ilijan gas project operated by Korea Electric Power Co.

The Department of Energy recently launched its National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) that aims to increase the country’s renewable energy portfolio to 15,000-MW by 2030.

Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras earlier said the NREP aims to increase the RE-based capacity of the country to threefold by 2030 from the current installed power generating renewable energy capacity of is 5,438 MW or 33.2 percent of our total installed power-generating capacity.

Almendras said the current dependable power generating capacity from renewable energy stands at 4,413 MW or 31.7 percent of the total dependable power generating capacity.

“The country has abundant renewable energy resources with various estimates, some of which even as high as 200,000 MW to 276,000 MW in potential capacity according to the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (US-NREL),” ALmendras said.