Global Biz Power enters Mindanao

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), the publicly listed company of the Alcantara Group and Mindanao’s first independent power producer, has signed an agreement with Global Business Power Corp. (GBP), an associate of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Under the agreement, GBP will acquire a 50 percent stake in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. (Atec), the holding company for ACR’s baseload coal-fired power plant assets. The base purchase price is P4.25 billion, subject to adjustment on closing.

Atec owns a 75 percent stake in the 210 megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) baseload coalfired plant in Maasim, Sarangani Province. Atec will also assume ACR’s stake in San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI), which is developing a 105 MW baseload coal-fired plant in Zamboanga City.

The SEC plant’s first 105 MW section began operating in April 2016. Its second 105 MW section is slated to begin operating in 2019. ACR also operates three diesel plants in Mindanao to provide peaking and backup power. It is also entering the renewable sphere with its first 15 MW run-of-river hydro plant in Sarangani scheduled to begin construction this year.

GBP is the leading power supplier in the Visayas with an aggregate capacity of 854 MW of coal and diesel powered generating facilities.

The company has gained a presence in Luzon, as it undertakes the development of a 670 MW super critical coal-fired plant in Luna, La Union. Through the partnership with the Alsons group, GBP now reaches the Mindanao market. /