Published September 9, 2018, 10:00
PM By Myrna
M. Velasco
Zabaleta-led Biopower is pushing for
the completion of at least three biomass power projects worth $156 million (or
P8.4 billion at current US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate), so the
project firm can avail of the extended degressed biomass feed-in-tariff (FIT)
rate of P6.6959 per kilowatt hour (kWh), as enforced by the Department of
Energy.
In an interview with reporters,
Biopower Vice Chairman Don Mario Y. Dia noted that the 20-megawatt San Carlos
biomass power project will be the first to reach commissioning phase before the
end of this year.
The engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) contract of the planned facility was first bestowed to China
Machinery Engineering Wuxi Co. Ltd., but due to slips in the implementation
timeline and the swell in the project cost that already reached US$55 million,
Biopower eventually decided to end its contract with the Chinese firm.
“We’re now hopefully commissioning
before the year ends for the first 20 megawatts… our EPC contractor should have
been Wuxi, but we already terminated the contract,” Dia said.
The two other biomass plants – La
Carlota and Northern Negros projects, are both targeted to be on stream next
year; with La Carlota anticipated on-line June next year; and Northern Negros
(Manapla project) towards the end of 2019.
The EPC contracts of the projects
had already been awarded to European firm Pöyry – with San Carlos and La
Carlota utilizing the same technology and boiler; while Northern Negros will be
equipped with a different boiler.
For all three biomass ventures, Dia
disclosed that their company is partly leaning on the support of three
expatriates in their team.
On the project’s financing, there
was already a commitment for the whole chunk from the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), according to the company executive.
Tariff-wise, Dia explained that it
shall be anchored on the degressed FIT rate plus adjustment in the consumer
price index (CPI), which he deemed should have already been raised since last
year.
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