Alcantara Group to beef up power capacity to 1,000 MW

MANILA, Philippines - The Alcantara Group, a major power player in Mindanao, is building its power generation capacity to 1,000 megawatts by end-2020 from 190 MW at present, its top official said over the weekend.

“The target is 1,000 MW before the end of this decade,” Tomas I. Alcantara, chairman and president of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. said in an interview.

In a separate message to stockholders during the company’s annual stockholders meeting, Alcantara said growth and profitability in the next few years will come from five key projects.

These include the reacquisition, rehabilitation and operation of the 98-MW diesel plant of Mapalad Power Corp. in Iligan, the construction and operation of Sections 1 and 2 of the 210-MW coal-fired plant of Sarangani Energy Corp. in Sarangani, the 105-MW San Ramon Power Incorporated in Zamboanga and the 17-MW Siguil Hydro Power, also in Sarangani.

The company acquired the Mapalad facility last year and started rehabilitation works in March 2013. Six months after, the company commenced commercial operations.

For the SEC plant, the company expects to begin commissioning by February 2015 and go into full commercial operations by 2015. The plant is expected to go on full capacity by 2016.

On top of this, the company continues to scan the Mindanao business environment for attractive opportunities.

“Increasing investments in Mindanao is a strategy that is close to your company’s core values, having grown from and been nurtured by the rich soil of Mindanao. The island has played host to most of your company’s investments and provided the means for your company to grow as much as it has,” Alcantara said.

Alsons executive vice president and chief operating officer Tirso Santillan said company has several hydropower projects in the pipeline.

“This is a new area for us so we are starting slowly with the first projects. Our target (for hydros) is to reach 100 MW,” he said.