Food firm Mondelez secures electricity supply from EDC
The Philippine subsidiary of global snack firm Mondelez International has started securing its power supply from the Bacon-Manito geothermal plant of Energy Development Corporation (EDC) that is sited in the Bicol region.
The parties have not revealed the volume of electricity procurement as well as the tariff on the power capacity purchase.
Bacon-Manito is one of the geothermal fleets of Lopez majority-owned EDC, the biggest geothermal power producer in the country.
Mondelez Philippines said its power off-take from the Bicol geothermalbased electricity generating facility will power up its Sucat manufacturing plant.
The array of snack foods being produced by Mondelez Philippines includes sweets like Oreo cookies, Toblerone and Cadbury chocolates; then Eden cheese and Cheez Whiz sandwich spread plus Tang powdered drinks.
As noted by Marvin Kenneth Bailon, EDC head of business development, marketing and trading, geothermal energy can meet the requirements of Mondelez for roundthe-clock power supply because the Bacon-Manito facility provides baseload power.
He emphasized that geothermal energy “is the holy grail of renewable energy,” as it is the only RE source of generation that is not cyclical, hence, “this makes it a reliable source of uninterruptible power.”
For Mondelez, its preference of RE power procurement is aligned with the
multinational food firm’s global target to reduce carbon footprints – particularly indicating that “the shift of its Sucat plant to 100 percent renewable power is contribution towards achieving that goal.”
Mondelez Philippines Plant Lead Atul Kulkarni noted that power purchase from full renewable energy source is major part of their company’s sustainability agenda.
“The smart and sustainable use of natural resources to reduce our environmental footprint is necessary now more than ever. This latest initiative complements our other sustainable projects in the Philippines,” he said.
Kulkarni added the geothermal-sourced power would be a viable complement to the biomass boiler that the company currently has, a facility that has been using biodegradable sources of fuel.
Further, the company is into utilizing rainwater treatment facility in its plant “to lessen water waste,” and has been into plastic waste recycling projects as well as installation of solar power systems.