Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star)
- March 26, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Basic Energy
Corp. (BEC) has firmed up its entry into renewables with equity investments in
the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors for the
220-megawatt (MW) Myanmar solar power project.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, BEC said its board confirmed the company’s 15 percent stake in
Vintage EPC Co. Ltd. and VTE International Construction Co. Ltd.
“BEC will now proceed with the
execution of the covering share purchase agreement and the shareholders
agreement. The execution of these agreements will be the basis for the
conversion of BEC’s earnest money deposit into equity in said companies,” the
company said.
In November 2017, the company signed
a term sheet with Vintage Engineering Public Co. Ltd. (VTE) of Thailand, as the
owner of the said companies, to start the necessary due diligence.
It has also remitted $2.622 million
(P136 million) as earnest money deposit and for the completion of the due
diligence work on the companies.
BEC said the equity investment is
part of its plans to be a major renewable energy and power company.
“With this objective, BEC was tasked
to develop a robust portfolio of renewable energy projects such as solar, wind
and biomass energy projects, in the Philippines and abroad, that will provide
BEC with a continuing stream of revenues in the short and mid-terms,” it said.
Vintage EPC and VTE International
are the suppliers and EPC contractors for the installed capacity of the 220-MW
solar power project owned and developed by Green Earth Power in Minbu District,
Magway Region, Myanmar.
The design and construction of the
project commenced in 2016 and was planned to be completed in four phases of 50
MW for Phases 1, 2 and 3 and 70 MW for Phase 4.
Phase 1 is ongoing with a targeted
completion date of year-end 2018. The subsequent phases shall be pursued after
completion of the previous phases to achieve full completion of the four phases
on or before 2021.
BEC has been scouting for solar
power investments overseas, particularly in Asia, given its fast turnaround
time compared with geothermal projects.
Currently, it has five geothermal
service contracts, namely the Mabini Geothermal Service Contract (SC) in
Batangas, East Mankayan Geothermal Prospect in Ifugao, Mt. Mariveles Geothermal
Project in Bataan, Mt. Iriga Geothermal Project in Albay and West Bulusan Geothermal
Prospect in Sorsogon.
Among its projects in the pipeline,
the Batangas project is the most advanced, with the drilling of an exploratory
well underway. Basic partnered with Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.
to develop the resource.
Basic has also been conducting due
diligence on a 14-MW solar farm in Japan after remitting 50 million yen, or
roughly P22.74 million, to Solmax Power Ltd. of Hong Kong.
It was also cleared by its board to
acquire 10 percent—with the option to increase to 20 percent—in a 25-MW biomass
power plant project in Japan, and make a 49 percent equity investment in V.O.
Net Biodiesel Asia Co. Ltd. which operates a 1.2-MW solar power plant located
in Kalisin, Thailand.
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