GBP powers up Robinsons mall
Global Business Power Corp. (GBP), majority owned by Metro Pacific Investment Corp., has signed up Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) under its retail electricity business, supplying the mall developer’s power needs in Visayas under the retail competition and open access (RCOA) scheme.
GBP and RLC have forged a power supply agreement wherein GBP unit Global Energy Supply Corp. (GESC) will supply 22 megawatts (MW) to Robinsons malls in Bacolod, Dumaguete, Tacloban, Roxas, Iloilo and Cebu.
“This partnership underscores both GBP and RLC’s commitment to support the country’s consumption-driven economy, as we both look to harness various opportunities for growth in servicing these fast-growing cities,” GBP president Jaime Azurin said.
RLC adds to GBP’s roster of customers, which include Federal Land Inc. and Cathay International Resources Corp.
GBP now supplies Fed Land’s GT Tower International in Makati City, one of Makati’s premiere commercial buildings, and of Marco Polo Cebu, a recognized leader in Cebu for luxury business accommodation.
It also has a one-year supply deal with cement firm Mabuhay Filcement Inc.
GESC has been a retail electricity supplier license holder since 2011, which authorizes it to sell electricity to qualified customers under RCOA. It sources its supply from the power plants in which GBP has interests in.
GBP is one of the leading independent power producers in the Visayas and Mindoro, with facilities located in Cebu, Iloilo, Aklan and Mindoro.
It is also currently developing a 2x335-MW supercritical coal-fired power facility in La Union, and has recently acquired a 50 percent interest in Mindanao-based Alsons Thermal Energy Corp., which serves as the holding company for all baseload coal-fired power plant assets of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. RCOA is a policy mechanism under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that allows contestable customers, or those whose peak demand fall within a set contestability, to freely choose their electricity supplier.
However, this has been under temporary restraining order (TRO) by the Supreme Court since February, stopping the mandatory migration of large power consumers to the scheme.