By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated May 20, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Alsons Power
Group plans to ramp up its solar power capacity to 150 megawatts (MW) in
Mindanao, starting with at least 10-20 MW in the next two years as part of its
thrust in the renewable energy (RE) sector.
Pursuing solar projects will be on
an “opportunistic” approach as it starts to venture in that technology, Alsons
vice president for business development Joseph Nocos said on the sidelines of
the Power & Electricity World Philippines 2016 yesterday.
“For solar, on an opportunistic
scale, we have the capacity right now, given the extent of our landholdings
that are shovel-ready, we have a potential of 150 MW,” he said.
However, Nocos said the company will
not build solar projects simultaneously given the imminent oversupply situation
in the region.
“We’re not going to do all of that
because our strategy is to expand our capacity according to what the market
needs. It’s a calibrated approach in our RE expansion,” he said.
“We’ll probably start with 10-20 MW
in Mindanao in the next two years,” the company official said.
Since solar is not yet the company’s
expertise, Alsons will be looking for a partner to develop these prospective
projects, Nocos said.
“We are in discussions with a major
RE player, a global RE player. I cannot [give a] name… but the choices are
between Japanese or European player,” he said.
Earlier, Alsons Power said it will
be spending $650 million for hydropower and solar projects in the next five
years.
The company is a major power player
in Mindanao, with several coal and diesel-fired power plants.
Its first 105-MW coal-fired power
plant in Sarangani Energy Corp. (ERC) has started commercial operations in the
first quarter while the second unit is scheduled to operate in November 2018.
It is also developing another 105-MW
coal plant under San Ramon Power Inc. which will be completed by the second
half of 2019.
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