Alsons needs $560 million for power plant project

MANILA, Philippines - Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) needs around $560 million to build a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Mindanao.

Luis R. Ymson Jr., chief financial officer of ACR, said the company will start construction of the first unit of 100 MW as soon as the Energy Regulatory approves its proposed tariff. The second unit of the same capacity will follow. Each unit will require an investment of $280 million each.

Ymson said 70 percent of the project would be funded by debt to be provided by Banco De Oro, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and Development Bank of the Philippines. The balance of 30 percent will come from equity.

The project, located in Maasim, Sarangani Province, is expected to add to power capacity in the Mindanao grid by June 2014. It will be undertaken by subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp

The facility will provide power to Southern Cotabato Electric Cooperative II Corp. Alsons Consolidated has investments in several energy firms aside from Western Mindanao Power and Southern Philippines Power: Conal Holdings Corp., Alsing Power Holdings, Inc., Northern Mindanao Power Corp., and Alto Power Management Corp.

Ymson said the company may take in a foreign partner, either Thailand’s Electricity Generating Company or Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp. “We have availability for 25 percent equity partner,” he said.

ACR intends to replace the existing diesel plants with coal-fired power plants using circulating fluidized bed boilers.

Ynson said the company has also pushed back its planned offshore equity offering next year.