P15-B renewable energy plants to be constructed in Negros

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Three biomass power plants and a solar plant worth a total of $345 million (nearly P15 billion) will be constructed in Negros Occidental.

Jose Zabaleta Jr., president of the Bronzeoak Philippines Inc., said the power projects will generate 92 megawatts of power, create more than 2,000 jobs in the province, and provide additional income for sugarcane farmers who will sell bagasse to fuel the biomass plants.

Bronzeoak is one of the investors funding the biomass plants to be put up in San Carlos and La Carlota cities as well as Manapla town. The other investors are Thomas Llyod, Greenergy Holdings and China-based Wuxi Huagang, which is also the contractor building the plants.

The investors funding the solar plant in San Carlos are Bronzeoak and ThomasLloyd. Contractors Conergy and Skema Consult Philippines are building the facility.

Zabaleta said the power plants will provide stable power supply in Negros Occidental.

Power plants operational in 2014-2016

Energy assistant secretary Daniel Ariaso said the construction of 4 renewable energy power plants in Negros Occidental will support the energy requirements of Visayas, especially since industrial activities in Bacolod, Iloilo and Cebu are expected to pick up further.

Zabaleta said the 22-megawatt solar plant in San Carlos will cost about $45 million and will be operational in 2014.

The $85-million biomass plant in San Carlos will produce nearly 20 megawatts of power and will be operational end of 2014, he added.

A 25-megawatt biomass plant will be constructed in Barangay Cubay, La Carlota, and a similar plant will be built in Manapla town and will be operational in 2016, Zabaleta said. The plants will cost $107 million each.

Sugarcane farmers

The biomass plants will provide income opportunities for sugar planters, helping cushion the impact of increased competition when tariffs on imported sugar start to drop by 2015.

Sugarcane farmers are estimated to earn over P250 million annually from the sale of bagasse and other agricultural residue that will be used to run the plants. – Rappler.com