DMCI ventures into renewable energy

MANILA, Philippines - DMCI Power Corp. (DPC) is venturing into renewable energy to expand its investment portfolio.

Renewable energy are hydropower, solar, biomass, wind and geothermal.

DPC president Nestor Dadivas said the company is planning to make its foray into the hydropower and biomass generation.

“We are closely studying hydropower and biomass because we think they have the strongest potential in terms of output reliability and commercial viability among the available RE technologies,” he said.

Toward this end, DPC is looking at identifying possible areas for its planned hydropower and biomass facilities.

However, nothing is final yet as the company is still conducting feasibility studies.

“Right now, we have identified one or two areas. But the locations could still change depending on the results of our feasibility studies,” Dadivas said.

Government incentives as well as prevailing market conditions that make it conducive for renewable energy investments are among the reasons that convinced DPC to expand into renewable energy.

“Having priority dispatch, government support and a competitive price at a growing but highly competitive power industry makes these RE projects more attractive” Dadivas said.

At present, DPC operates diesel and bunker power plants in Masbate, Palawan and Oriental Mindoro. Another diesel plant is set to operate in Sultan Kudarat by year end.

It was in 2014 when the company commissioned its 15 megawatt-diesel plant in Mindoro as well as the diesel power requirements of the National Power Corp., the state-owned power generation company, for El Nido in Palawan.

The company won the contract after offering a bid of P9 million.

Peak demand in the island has reached 1.2 megawatts but Napocor’s dependable capacity is only about 650 kilowatts.

DMCI Power continuously looks for opportunities to grow its business such as through the bidding of Napocor’s-Small Power Utilities Group (NPC-SPUG) contracts and Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management (PSALM)’s privatization of power generation assets.

It also plans to provide power to leading industrial corporations across the country.