Zamora group to pour $42 M in 2 methane power plants

Zamora-led Tranzen Group Inc. is planning to pour in another $42 million (P1.8 billion) to put up two more methane-run power plants in the country, a ranking company official said yesterday.

Montalban Methane Power Corp. (MMPC) executive vice president Danilo Cantiller told reporters during the launch of the group’s first methane power project in Montalban, Rizal that they have plans of constructing within the year two similar facilities in Laguna and Navotas.

MMPC is a unit of Tranzen, the holding company for the business interests of Salvador Zamora II, who has been into nickel mining and real estate in Mindanao and Palawan. MMPC is also a joint venture with UK-based firm Carbon Capital Markets (CCM).

President Arroyo led yesterday the inauguration and soft opening of the group’s P1.5-billion methane-based power facility inside the closed sanitary landfill in Rizal.

Cantiller noted that a methane power plant normally requires between $2 million to $3 million investment for every megawatt (MW) capacity.

He said they expect to start the construction of a four MW methane-based power facility in San Pedro, Laguna in the fourth quarter of this year.

A feasibility study is also being undertaken for a similar facility of a 10-MW capacity in Navotas.

He said power that would be produced from the Rizal plant will be sold to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for about P4 to P5 per kilowatthour (kwh).

The Rizal-based methane power facility will have an initial capacity of five MW and will eventually be increased to 15 MW.

Once the distribution lines are completed, MMPC hopes to start commercial operations of the Rizal methane plant by late August or early September this year.

The company will also be selling its carbon credits through CCM. By September this year, MMPC will apply for an approval with the United Nations for the issuance of carbon credits for the first quarter of its fiscal year of operation.

By November this year, the company hopes to get the first UN assessment on the greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Compared to other hydrocarbon fuels, burning methane produces less carbon dioxide for each unit of heat released. The relative abundance of methane and its clean burning process makes it a very attractive fuel. Methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential of 72 (average over 20 years) or 25 (average of over 100 years).