Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Alsons Group sets aside $650 M for renewables



By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 23, 2016 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - Alsons Power Group of the Alcantara family has lined up $650 million worth of hydropower and solar projects in the next five years as it shifts focus toward renewable energy (RE) developments.
Alsons vice president for business development Joseph Nocos said in a briefing yesterday the opportunity for generation companies is in the RE space and the company would take advantage of that window.
“Alsons will be concentrating on hydroelectric and solar as we shift focus towards RE,” he said, adding Mindanao would have a secure baseload power supply in the next 10 years with the recent developments by several power players.
Alsons, a major power player in Mindanao, will start commercial operations of the first 105-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant of Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) within the first quarter.
The second 105-MW unit of the SEC plant is slated to start operating in November 2018. Meanwhile, another 105-MW coal plant under San Ramon Power Inc. will be completed by the second half of 2019.
To realize its RE plans, a holding company under listed Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. was formed specifically for the group’s RE investments.
The subsidiary, Alson Renewable Energy Corp., would be the main vehicle  “for raising capital to support RE projects we are trying to put up,” Nocos said.
Currently, Alsons has 97 MW of hydropower service contracts for four different rivers with the Department of Energy (DOE), the first of which would start construction this year, Nocos said.
“It’s a 15-16 MW run-of-river hydropower plant in Sarangani which will utilize Siguil River as its source,” he said.
“This will be followed by a 40-MW plant in Negros along Bago River, and two more hydropower projects in Mindanao,” the company official added.
On top of these service contracts, Alsons is applying for another 80-90 MW hydropower service contracts with the DOE.
“If approved, we will end up with a total hydro portfolio of 180 MW in the next five years,” Nocos said.
Alsons is also pursuing the development of a solar power plant in Mindanao, mainly in Gen. Santos City which has a high level of irradiance.

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