3 foreign groups eye RP‘s alternative fuels program

Three foreign firms have signified interest to take part in the country’s alternative fuels program, a top energy official said over the weekend.

Department of Energy (DOE) director for energy utilization management bureau (EUMB) Mario Marasigan said Tata Industries of India has indicated strong interest to supply and/or assemble natural gas-run vehicles.

Marasigan said the DOE would facilitate meetings with Tata Industries and local bus operators for a possible joint undertaking in pushing for the natural gas vehicle program for public transport. (NGVPPT).

"The Indian firm is seeking our help to find potential partners in a proposed facility that could assemble CNG-run buses," he said.

The DOE official said US-based Callandra Energy Research Co. and Chinese firm Synergy Corp., on the other hand, have shown keen interest in putting up mother and daughter compressed natural gas (CNG) refilling stations.

Callandra and Synergy, Marasigan said, intend to set up two mother stations and five daughter stations, each.  They intend to pour in a minimum of $10 million to $20 million investment in the said ventures.

According to the DOE official, they are currently evaluating the business plans of these groups.

"They are seeking the opinion of the DOE.  We are at present developing a scheme on how to deal with them. We want them to take part once we have opened the market for other players," he said.

At present, only Pilipinas Shell has the right to pilot test the setting up of mother and daughter CNG refilling stations.

But Marasigan said they are currently working out a set of guidelines that would carry policy declarations of the government on the "open access".

Based on the program, the government plans to construct 10 CNG refueling stations by two years time or from 2006 to 2007.

Under the NGVPPT, the Shell group, which is the major operator of the $4.5-billion Malampaya deep water gas to power project, will put up a CNG mother station: Malampaya On Shore Gas Plant (MOGP) in Tabangao, Batangas.

Initially, the government will source its natural gas requirement for the transport sector from the Malampaya project.

The same group will also put up a CNG daughter refueling station along South Luzon Tollway (northbound) in Biñan, Laguna.

Based on the program, modular cylinder cascades will transport CNG from mother to daughter station

The DOE has accredited seven bus companies that would initially run about 185 units of CNG buses in the country’s major thoroughfares by 2006. These include:  HM Transport Inc. (80 units); RRCG Transport (20 units); KL Transport Inc (40 units); Pascual Liner (20 units); BBL Transport System Inc (five units); Greenstar Express Inc., and CNG Vehicles Corp. (10 units).

Aside from Tata Industries, other CNG bus suppliers include: Cummins Westport (US/Canada-China); Daewoo (Korea); and Ashok,Leyland (India).