Alsons Invests $72 Million in Hydro

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc (ACR) has approved an initial investment of $19.6 million (P1 billion) in its latest $72.7 million (P3.7 billion) renewable energy business ― the 15.1-MW Siguil Hydro Power Corp (SHPC) in the Philippines.

Located at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Saranggani Province, SHPC will be owned and controlled by ACR’s power arm Alsons Renewable Energy Corp (AREC).

Construction of the Siguil hydro plant will start within this year upon completion of formalities. “The Siguil hydro power plant is expected to begin commercial operations within the first half of 2020 and will provide power to Sarangani Province, General Santos City and key municipalities of South Cotabato,” ACR said in its statement. ACR also approved a performance undertaking to be issued to its long-time partner Toyota Tsusho Corp (TTC) in support of the sale to the Japanese government of half of the Siguil hydro project’s carbon credits.

This was done under the Japanese government’s Joint Credit Mechanism (JCM) for the reduction of world-wide carbon emissions. ACR, AREC, TTC, and SPHC signed on Tuesday, September 26, an international consortium agreement relating to the new hydro power firm. JCM project is typically implemented by Japan and a host country through bilateral agreements. Under the JCM, projects using advanced low-carbon technology such as the Siguil hydro project are implemented and the resulting greenhouse gas emission reductions may be credited to the project proponents of both participating countries, thus allowing for Siguil Hydro to receive additional revenues through the sale of carbon credits.

A local listed company of the Alcantara Group, ACR is primarily engaged in power generation in the island of Mindanao and is Mindanao’s first independent power producer. ACR currently operates four power plants that helped solve power shortage in Mindanao. Early this year, ACR subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp (SEC) began construction of the second 105 MW section of the 210 MW Sarangani Energy baseload coal-fired power plant also located in Maasim, Sarangani Province. “Construction for SEC Section 2 is currently proceeding ahead of schedule and the plant expected to begin commercial operations in early 2019,” ACR added. By 2021, ACR-affiliated power facilities are expected to have around 588 MW of generating capacity or approximately 25 per cent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand for that year.