The Board of Investments (BOI) under
the Department of Trade and Industry has given go-signal to Nickel Asia
Corporation’s (NAC) equity purchase in the planned 100-megawatt Biliran
geothermal power project.
The transaction involving NAC will
change the ownership structure of the Biliran Geothermal, Inc. (BGI), the
project’s corporate vehicle.
Effectively, NAC is the majority
equity holder in Emerging Power, Inc. (EPI), which currently is the major
investor in the Biliran geothermal venture with 60-percent stake.
Prior to the transaction firming up
NAC’s entry into the project, it was another Filipino firm Filtech Energy
Corporation which had been holding the majority interest of 60 percent in the
Biliran project; while Iceland firm Orka Energy holds the balance of
40-percent.
For the project to advance, NAC has
guaranteed “the loan facility of EPI for up to P3.0 billion over a three-year
period to finance EPI’s renewable energy projects.”
In a statement to the media, EPI
president Martin Antonio Zamora has noted that they consider the Biliran
concession “as one of our major projects.”
He thus assured the BOI that “the
project will materialize,” and that the plant will eventually augment power
supply and economic benefits to its host community.
From a targeted capacity of 100MW,
EPI has further indicated that initial research also shows “another estimated
170MW could be developed in the northern part of the concession area.”
The company said it already
completed drilling of at least eight wells in the southern portion of its
awarded service area.
The Biliran venture has been granted a 25-year
geothermal renewable energy service contract covering 260 kilometers of
concession area in Biliran province.
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