Alcantara Group to build 200-MW power plant in M’danao for P15B

To help avert a looming power shortage in Mindanao, the Alcantara Group of Companies will invest roughly P15 billion for a new 200-megawatt (mw) coal-fired power plant in the southern part of the island.

Group chairman Tomas I. Alcantara told attendees of the Mindanao Business Conference in Gen. Santos City that Alsons Consolidated Resouces, Inc. (ACR) and its partners will put up a coal-fired power station in the west coast of Southern Mindanao.

The power plant will have an initial capacity of 200 mw but can be expanded up to 900 mw, growing in 200-300 mw increments to keep in step with the growth of the Mindanao economy.

Although Alcantara did not indicate the actual amount of investment for the project, as a rule of thumb, a coal-fired power plant costs $1.5 million to $2 million per mw.  Thus, the group will likely spend $300 million or P15 billion for the 200-mw power project.

Alcantara said the power facility will be equipped with the latest environmental protection technology and will be fueled by clean coal from Kalimantan and, if it becomes economically available, local coal.

“This power station will serve the requirements of Mindanao’s distribution utilities, particularly those in the south, as well as those of the various industrial loads. It will be the cheapest new entrant in the grid when it becomes operational in 2011.  With your support, this project will succeed and help prevent another power crisis in the Mindanao grid,” he said.

The project is expected to break ground around this time next year and will be operational by the last quarter of 2011.

“Since the new power plant will be located in Southern Mindanao, it will fortify and stabilize the Mindanao grid, making this part of the island less susceptible to line disturbances similar to what we experienced last Monday,” Alcantara said.

On Sept. 17, the Mindanao grid suffered day-long power outages, blacking out urban areas like Davao City and the Socsksargen area.

Alcantara said the company’s power project is also in anticipation of the growing economy in the island.

He noted that several big-ticket industrial projects are in various stages of development in Mindanao. Ten of the 24 priority mineral development projects, including the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) project in Tampakan, as well as the proposed Hanjin Shipyard and ferro-alloy plants in Northern Mindanao, will bring unprecedented industrial growth to Mindanao.

Developments in the tourism sector will also help boost the services sector of the Mindanao economy.  As the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry farms out to areas outside Metro Manila, more call centers and BPO facilities will be following those already operating in Davao and Cagayan de Oro City.

There are also opportunities in the biofuels industry and Mindanao’s abundant and fertile lands are the most ideal for cassava, sugar, coconut, palm and jatropha, the principal feedstock for biofuel plants.

“We project that the power supply-demand balance will hang precariously starting next year, become completely inadequate by 2011 if the proposed industrial projects don’t happen on schedule, and if they do, the shortage will happen earlier in 2010,” Alcantara said.

Fifteen years ago, the Alcantaras built the Iligan 100-mw Bunker C-fired diesel power station to solve the severe power crisis that plagued Mindanao back then.

Then they built the Zamboanga 100-mw Bunker C-fired power station and the Alabel 50-mw Bunker C-fired power station. These are all under energy conversion sgreements with the state-run National Power Corp.

The Alcantara Group of Companies started 53 years ago with C. Alcantara & Sons Inc. (CASI) which ventured into logging and plywood manufacturing. It has since then expanded to become a diversified conglomerate with interests in power generation, agriculture, property development and product distribution. Much of these businesses flourished in Mindanao. Its agribusiness group now produces the world-class Sarangani Bay milkfish that has become synonymous with premium quality fish in North America, Europe, and other parts of the world. Alsons Development and Investment Corp., meanwhile, continues to be the leading real estate developer in Davao City through its premier developments such as Ladislawa Village, Woodridge Park, and Las Terrazas.