051107: First Gen, DMCI in joint venture talks

May 11, 2007
Updated 04:12:22 (Mla time)

Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Power producer First Gen Corp. is finalizing a joint venture arrangement with conglomerate DMCI Holdings Inc. to build a $120-million, 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Concepcion town in the central Philippines province of Iloilo, a First Gen official said.

DMCI controls Semirara Mining Corp., the country’s largest coal producer, and a joint venture would therefore make sense, said First Gen senior vice president Ricardo Tantoco.

Tantoco said First Gen wanted to have a majority stake in the project.

He said First Gen and DMCI were waiting for issuance of an environmental compliance certificate for the project, which he said they expected to come within the year.

Tantoco said the plant’s output would be sold to cooperatives serving the provinces in Panay Island, possibly to include Iloilo Electric Cooperative 1 and 2, Aklan Electric Cooperative and Capiz Electric Cooperative.

Panay relies heavily on diesel-based power generation and some geothermal power from neighboring Negros Island, Tantoco said.

“Panay right now is primarily a diesel island, so we believe that there’s room there for a genuine baseload plant,” he said.

He said First Gen had allotted $1.3 billion for “Greenfield,” or completely new, projects in the next few years, including the Panay plant.

Other projects in the pipeline include the 550-megawatt San Gabriel gas-fired power plant, a 400-megawatt expansion of the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant expansion, and some hydropower facilities. Abigail L. Ho, with INQUIRER.net

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