First Philec opens new plant in Batangas for transformers

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-led First Philec Inc. opened yesterday its new facility in Tanauan, Batangas which will manufacture high-performance transformers.

First Philec said the new plant caters to the needs of distribution utilities, rural electric cooperatives, as well as establishments in the property, commercial and industrial sectors.

The company said the plant would also help create direct and indirect employment of up to 4,000 people, inclusive of local parts suppliers and third-party service providers.

Once it operates at full capacity, the plant is expected to manufacture transformers at a rate of 24,000 units per year.

With this capacity, First Philec said the company would cement its stature as a pioneer and leading maker of distribution transformers in the region.

The new plant will manufacture transformers using mainly amorphous metal, an alloy that performs better than the commonly used silicon cores.

First Philec president Ariel Ong said transformers made from amorphous alloys perform better than counterparts made from traditional silicon metals.

“Distribution transformer inefficiencies accounts for about two percent losses of the total generated energy. Here in our country, we have 80,000 units already installed and we estimate that the use of 100 percent amorphous transformers in the whole network can reduce the losses between 0.3 to 0.5 percent, which is about P2 billion annually in wasted energy,” Ong said.

“More importantly, this can save up to 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year for the Philippines or five million tons of greenhouse gas reduced over the life of the transformers” he added.

First Philec is a subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corp., a listed holding company of the Lopez family with interests in power generation, manufacturing, real estate, construction and energy services.