Metro Pacific to build P700-M waste-to-energy project

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is investing up to P700 million in a waste-to-energy project in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the facility, which would make use of the city’s landfill waste, would initially produce two megawatts of power and 10,000 liters of biodiesel fuel every day.

“It has a capacity of expanding to 6 megawatts,” Pangilinan told reporters on Tuesday morning, August 12.

The plant’s construction would begin in the next 3 months, said MPIC president and chief executive officer Jose Ma. K. Lim.

In September last year, the city government of Tagum and MPIC’s partner Global Green International Energy Philippines Inc. signed a memorandum of agreement to build a waste-to-energy facility.

The facility uses a process called pyrolysis where waste is decomposed in high temperatures, said Lim.

Global Green International holds 30% stake in the facility, said Lim, while MPIC owns majority share.

“We will use it as a test before we invest in a bigger scale. But the potential scale is probably about 300 MW and 500,000 liters of biodiesel per day,” said Lim.

Lim said they’ve started talking with other local governments to replicate the project in other municipalities and cities. – Rappler.com