FLI teams up with French energy firm
FILINVEST LAND, Inc. (FLI) unveiled on Thursday its partnership with French energy firm ENGIE for a P1.5-billion district cooling system (DCS) to be used for buildings inside Northgate Cyberzone, Filinvest City in Muntinlupa.
The Philippine DCS Development Corp. (PDDC), a 60-40 joint venture between the Gotianun-led real estate developer and ENGIE, said the system will have an energy efficient cooling capacity of 42.2 megawatts. This is enough to cover 20 buildings inside Northgate Cyberzone, which caters primarily to business process outsourcing and information technology firms.
“We are proud to partner with the world leader in District Cooling System. ENGIE’s expertise in DCS and our stateof-the-art DCS plant will benefit our stakeholders. This project is a realization of our vision to produce a clean, sustainable, and resource-efficient cooling system. It is our way of reducing our carbon footprint,” PDDC President Joseph M. Yap said during the project’s launch event at Filinvest City, Muntinlupa.
ENGIE is an energy firm with a presence in 70 countries, and is listed in the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges. The company is focused on three business activities, namely low carbon generation from natural gas and renewable energy, energy infrastructure, and efficient solutions for its customers. It delivered €66 billion in revenues in 2016.
“Our ambition for Northgate DCS is to be a model for dense urban areas in Southeast Asia and showcase how distinct energy solutions can help cities optimize energy supply, reduce electricity consumption, support economic development, and lower environment impact,” ENGIE Executive Vice-President Didier Holleaux said in a speech during the project’s launch.
PDDC has so far spent P1.2 billion for the first of only two phases for the project, which is dependent on the completion of the buildings in Northgate Cyberzone.
Mr. Yap explained the DCS is currently connected to 12 buildings in the complex with a total capacity of 8,000 TR. The system will further be expanded to hold 10,000 TR in order to support the requirements of the eight buildings set to be connected to it under phase 2.
“( Completion of the buildings) will be staggered in the next four to five years. Currently we’re already finishing two buildings that are being constructed and there are more in the pipeline,” Mr. Yap told reporters in a press briefing after the launch.
Mr. Yap, who also sits as the president of Cyberzone Properties, Inc., said they are looking at replicating DCS for its other projects.
“Right now we’re looking at, we have projects in Cebu, mixed- use development project. We’re looking at doing that in Cyberzone Cebu. Plus there’s also another development Ciudad in Cebu, we’re planning that as well. But also in Manila we have other mixed- use development like Activa in Quezon City and One Binondo. So those things are also being studied for possible DCS,” he said.
While PDDC is an FLI- led venture, Mr. Yap said they target to have partnerships with other property developers as well.
“Our long- term goal is not only to service Filinvest projects but also to service to other developers as well. It’s just that we’re starting out with Filinvest developments because it’s already in the pipeline,” he said.
FLI recorded a net income attributable to the parent of P2.59 billion in the first half of 2017, 7.2% higher than the same period in 2016 following am 11% uptick in revenues to P9.5 billion.
Shares in FLI slipped a centavo or 0.46% to P2.15 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday.