Philippines: Roxas delays biomass project

Philippines: Roxas delays biomass project

Roxas Holdings Inc. and Global Business Power Corp. have temporarily shelved
their planned 40-megawatt, co-generation power plant in Negros Occidental
province due to the proliferation of solar projects in the province.

Roxas Holdings president and chief executive Hubert Tubio said during the
annual stockholders' meeting the company's joint venture biomass joint
venture with Global Business hit a snag after the activation of several
solar power projects.

"The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines expects the completion of
the power transmission highway in two to three years. Hopefully this will
also be just in time for us to make our co-gen project operational," Tubio
said.

The new timetable for the proposed biomass power plant will make the
facility operational by 2020, instead of the original schedule of 2018.

Roxas Holdings, the country's largest integrated sugar business, and Global
Business, a leading power producer in the Visayas, in 2014 agreed to build a
40-megawatt cogeneration facility in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.

The joint venture partners in 2015 commissioned Pöyry Energy Inc., a global
Finnish consulting and engineering company, for the front-end engineering
design of the planned power plant.

The co-gen plant aims to meet the energy requirements of Roxas Holdings'
sugar mill and sell the excess power to the grid at the same time.

Among the solar power plants operating in Negros island are San Carlos Sun
Power Inc.'s 59 MW in San Carlos City, Helios Solar Energy's 132.5-MW farm
in Cadiz City, Citicor Power's 25-MW project in Silay City, Negros Island
Solar Power's 48-MW and 32-MW farms in Manapla and La Carlota, respectively,
and San Carlos Solar Energy's 45-MW facility, also in San Carlos City.

Meanwhile, Roxas Holdings expressed concerns over the planned tax on sugar
and the increasing use of imported high fructose corn syrup by the beverage
industry that could affect the viability of the domestic sugar industry.

Tubio said the increase in tax on sugar and sugar-based products would have
some impact on the company's business as it could affect demand and
consumption.

The increase use of HFCS by beverage firms will also displace demand for
locally produced cane sugar and threaten the sugar cane industry.

"It should therefore be fairly regulated and treated by our government in
the same manger as imported sugar. Directly at stake is the livelihood of
more than 700,000 marginal farmers and farm workers, which translated 9will)
affect about 3.5 million Filipinos," Tubio said.

The country's power generation capacity mix remains driven by coal-fired
power plants in 2016, but renewable energy is fast catching up, the Energy
Department's latest report showed.

It said coal's share in the capacity mix as of December 31, 2016 was at
36.5 percent for a total dependable capacity of 4,970 megawatts.

Coal is followed by renewable energy composed of geothermal, hydro, wind,
biomass and solar at 27.1 percent dependable capacity accounting for 3,684
MW.

Hydro accounted for the bulk of 17.1 percent of dependable capacity,
followed by geothermal at 5.7 percent, wind at 2.2 percent, solar at 1.6
percent and biomass at 0.5 percent.

Natural gas power plants accounted for 24.2 percent of dependable capacity
or 3,291 MW while oil-based power plants contributed 12.2 percent of
dependable capacity at 1,655 MW.

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Link to Original Article:
http://thestandard.com.ph/business/power-technology/229781/roxas-delays-biom
ass-project.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com