Alsons eyes Japanese gov’t grant for its 1st renewable energy project

ALSONS Consolidated Resources, Inc. (ACR) plans to secure up to 700 million yen from a Japanese government grant to build its first renewable energy project, the 15.1-megawatt (MW) run-ofriver hydroelectric power project along Siguil River in Sarangani province.

Tirso G. Santillan, ACR executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said the “joint credit mechanism” (JCM) from the Japanese government would form part of the P3.9-billion funding for the project.

Mr. Santillan said the company is scheduled to start building the power plant “within the third quarter.”

He said securing the financing for the project depends on its marketing — ACR wants to first secure a power supply agreement for the plant, which faces regulatory hurdles including going through a competitive selection process.

Mr. Santillan said its longtime Japanese partner Toyota Tsusho Corp. had been invited to join in the venture, and that it had signified its interest because it is keen on renewable energy.

Tomas I. Alcantara, ACR chairman and president, said the project is targeted for completion by the second half of 2020, when the company expects to have build power plants with a total capacity of 483 MW.

The Alcantara group aims to build in the coming years a capacity of up to 200-MW in hydroelectric power. After Siguil, the company is looking at Bago in Negros Occidental as the site of the next project.

“We want to finish the first one, and then develop an expansion program,” Mr. Santillan said, adding the company’s experience is mainly in developing coal- and diesel- fired power plants.

He said Global Business Power Corp. (GBP) is not part of the Siguil project, but would be invited for future projects. GBP is a new partner after it acquired last year a 50% stake in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp., which holds the Alcantara’s baseload coal-fired power plant assets.

Mr. Santillan said ACR was not looking have the project included in the government’s feed-in-tariff scheme, which offers a guaranteed rate for approved renewable energy projects.

ACR currently operates four power facilities in Mindanao. The plants generate a combined capacity of 363 MW and serves more than eight million people in 13 cities and eight provinces, including urban centers in Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iligan and Zamboanga City.

The listed holding firm targets to have a total capacity of 588 MW by 2021, which it says is equivalent to 25% of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand by that year.

A number of ACR’s power plant projects are currently at different stages of development.

Robert F. Yenko, ACR chief financial officer, said the company had allocated P9 billion for capital expenditures this year. He previously said the capex in 2017 was at P8.8 billion.