 |
| DMCI Power Corporation |
DMCI Power Corp. is looking at mini-hydropower projects in Cagayan de Oro City and Sultan Kudarat provinces in Mindanao with a capacity of close to 100 megawatts (MW), marking the off-grid electricity supplier’s foray into renewable energy, a top company official said.
In a briefing on Thursday, DMCI Power President Nestor D. Dadivas also said the company will expand its coverage in Masbate to include diesel-fired power plants on the islands of Ticao in the same province and in Marinduque.
“Ticao’s demand is less than 2 MW, but as a single provider you need a reserve. You might have to do a 100%… which means 4 MW,” he said, adding that the company will participate once off-grid projects in the two islands are offered for bidding.
In Marinduque province, he said the company is targeting capacity of 10 MW.
In all, DMCI Power plans to expand by around 114 MW at the cost of $3 million per MW for the mini-hydropower projects and between $800,000 and $1 million per MW for the diesel-fired power projects.
“The development time-frame is long,” Mr. Dadivas said as he forecast a possible completion date that could extend past five years because of the projects’ location — distant islands and mountainous terrain.
The expansion comes after the company deployed last month two satellite diesel-fired plants to Masbate with a combined capacity of 175 megawatts, ensuring reliable power to two towns in the province.
Aside from Masbate, the company also provides power to the province of Palawan and the city of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro via supply contracts with electric cooperatives.
DMCI Power previously said that as of April, it had a total contracted capacity of 59 MW.
Ahead of the national elections on Monday, the company said it was deploying generators totalling 10 MW to Masbate and Palawan. Five units of 1-MW generating sets will be sent to Irawan, Palawan while seven generating units totaling 5 MW will be delivered to Masbate.
“Adequate and uninterrupted power supply is critical to the conduct of orderly and credible elections. We are committed to doing our part in ensuring the success of the electoral process,” Mr. Dadivas said.
Palawan and Masbate have around one-million registered voters, the company said, citing government figures.
DMCI Power was also tapped to bring power to the towns of Brooke’s Point, Bataraza and Española in Palawan for six weeks, after the National Power Corp. scheduled preventive maintenance work on its 69-kilovolt southern transmission line.
Source and courtesy: Victor V. Saulon, Business World Online