DENR backs bill banning open pit mining

Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - September 26, 2018 - 12:00am

https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/09/26/1854642/denr-backs-bill-banning-open-pit-mining

MANILA, Philippines — The government is leaving to Congress the decision on whether or not to allow open pit mining.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has expressed support for House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s proposal to craft a bill that seeks to totally ban open pit mining.

“While he is not supporting the open pit mining, President Duterte is giving the assignment of amending the Mining Law to Congress instead of issuing an executive order,” Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones said in a briefing during the ENIPAS Act Forum yesterday.

“The only obstacle is that we have the mining law and we cannot just impose the ban on open pit as it is the only available method to extract some minerals like gold,” Leones said.

Last week, Arroyo said the House would come up with a new mining bill which includes banning the open pit method which she said was a priority of Duterte.

Arroyo also asked the Department of Finance to submit its own proposals to be incorporated in the House version of the mining legislation.

“We welcome this development. When they pass the bill, it will be subjected to various consultations and studies. Before imposing the ban on open pit, we hope that there will be available options available for the mining sector to undertake operations without resorting to open pit,” Leones said.

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, meanwhile, said it would continue consultations

with the government on all proposed measures relating to large-scale mining.

The ban was first ordered by former Environment chief Gina Lopez in April 2017, shortly before she was removed from office.

In October 2017, the interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) recommended the lifting of the open pit ban, saying the local sector is now poised for a sounder investment climate.

A month later, however, Duterte rejected the Council’s recommendation and ordered mining companies to shape up.

Open-pit mining remains to be an internationally accepted method for mining.

The Constitution even gives the state the duty to explore, develop, and utilize the country’s mineral resources.

Aboitiz said to be in advanced talks to buy Ayala power assets

September 26, 2018 | 12:04 am

https://www.bworldonline.com/aboitiz-said-to-be-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-ayala-power-assets/

ABOITIZ POWER Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire stakes in some of Ayala Corp.’s thermal power assets, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The companies aim to announce a deal as soon as the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Ayala, which has a market value of about $10.5 billion, and Aboitiz are still in discussions on the structure of the transaction, according to the people.

Shares of Aboitiz Power fell as much as 3.4% in early Manila trading Monday. They were down 1% to P36.25 pesos at 11:25 a.m., compared to a 0.4% gain in the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index.

Ayala, the oldest conglomerate in the Philippines, said earlier this year it was planning to sell as much as half of its thermal power business to help fund expansion in Southeast Asia. Its energy unit’s portfolio, which derives 84% of its attributable capacity from coal, is valued at P135 billion ($2.5 billion), according to a February research report from CLSA Ltd.

A deal could still be delayed or fall apart, the people said. Any transaction would add to the $31.1 billion in acquisitions of Asian energy and power assets announced this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Aboitiz Power’s chief strategy officer, Luis Miguel Aboitiz, declined to comment. Eric Francia, president of Ayala’s AC Energy, Inc. unit, also declined to comment. — Bloomberg

Meralco-Egco partnership eyes transmission facility in Luzon

By Lenie Lectura - September 26, 2018

https://businessmirror.com.ph/meralco-egco-partnership-eyes-transmission-facility-in-luzon/

SAN Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL), a partnership between Meralco PowerGen (MGen) and New Growth BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (Egco Group) of Thailand, is seeking regulatory approval to construct a transmission facility that will connect its 500-megawatt (MW) coal plant to the Luzon grid.

In a 14-page application, SBPL put the cost to set up a dedicated facility project at P242,956,734.

SBPL proposed to develop and construct a dedicated point-to-point facility that will connect the coal plant to the Luzon grid through the Tayabas substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) by connecting to the existing QPPL (Quezon Power Philippines Limited Co.) connection asset, which comprises the Mauban substation and a 230-kilovolt transmission line.

According to the Energy Regulatory Commission, SBPL’s application is “sufficient in substance,” with the required fees having been paid. “The same is hereby set for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pretrial conference and presentation of evidence on November 6,” the ERC said in its September 4 order. Last August, MGen said the construction of the country’s first coal-fired power plant in the country to use supercritical technology is 90-percent complete.

“SBPL is on its 31st month of EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] implementation  with overall progress at almost 90 percent and is on track for project completion in September 2019,” said MGen President Rogelio Singson.

The company tapped the consortium of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. as the EPC contractor for the project.

SBPL achieved financial close for the power project in December 2015 for a total debt of P42.1 billion.

The electricity to be generated by the plant will be sold to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility, under a 20-year power supply agreement. Singson added that this project would bring in additional revenues to Meralco in 2020.

The SBPL power plant will play a crucial role as electricity demand grows, especially in Luzon which accounts for about 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.