Alsons commits to power development in Mindanao

By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated May 26, 2017 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/05/26/1703521/alsons-commits-power-development-mindanao

MANILA, Philippines -  Alcantara-owned Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) remains committed to develop power projects in Mindanao, with its project on track for completion starting 2019.

During the company’s stockholders’ meeting yesterday, Alsons chairman and president Tomas Alcantara said the declaration of martial law across Mindanao has not “in anyway disrupted or affected the normal course of Alsons Power’s operations.”

He said all existing facilities continue to operate normally while projects under construction are proceeding and are on track for completion.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to the development of the island of Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines,” Alcantara said.

Currently, ACR is currently constructing Section 2 of the 210-megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) baseload coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani province projected to start commercial operations in the first half of 2019.

Within the year, the company also expects to begin construction of the 15-MW Siguil run-of-river hydroelectric plant in Maasim, Sarangani; and the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) baseload coal-fired power plant in Talisayan, Zamboanga City.  

The Siguil run-of-river power plant, Alsons’ first renewable energy venture, is expected to be up and running in 2020. Apart from this project, other run-of-river hydropower projects located in key areas in Mindanao and Negros Occidental with a total potential capacity of 185 MW are also in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the 105-MW SRPI plant is projected to begin operating in 2021 to provide baseload power to Zamboanga City and other key areas in Mindanao.

Also during yesterday’s meeting, Alsons announced it would soon undertake a solar power project in the Gen. Santos-Sarangani area.

Alsons executive vice president and COO Tirso Santillan said the solar plant will initially have a capacity of 20 MW and can be expanded to 50 MW.

At present, ACR is operating a total 363 MW in capacity. Once ongoing projects are completed, ACR-affiliated power facilities are expected to have a total generating capacity of 588 MW by the end of 2021. The capacity will fulfill more than 25 percent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand that year.