Global Business Power expands Iloilo plant

MANILA, Philippines - Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), the power generation arm of the Metrobank Group, is expanding its power plant in Iloilo on the back of the growing economy of the province.

GBPC chairman Francisco Sebastian said since the completion of its 164-megawatt clean coal-fired plant in 2011, the province has witnessed a dramatic resurgence of business and the emergence of new industries like business process outsourcing (BPO).

As such, GBPC unit Panay Energy Development Corp. is building another 150-MW coal-fired power plant in Iloilo, which will start in the middle of the year, with commercial operations programmed by July 2016.

“Based on our plan, this new plant will be in time for the completion of various ongoing development projects. But perhaps more importantly, we hope that this forward-looking power plant expansion will encourage more business expansion and new investors to locate in Iloilo and Panay Island,” Sebastian said.

Panay originally operated a high cost 72-MW diesel plant in Brgy. Ingore, La Paz in Iloilo City until the 2011 clean coal plant expansion.

Development projects in the pipeline in Iloilo include the 75-hectare Iloilo Business Park of Megaworld Corp., which will be home to the state-of-the-art Iloilo Convention Center, luxury hotels Richmond Hotel Iloilo and the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, as well as BPO office buildings and residential condominiums.

Other projects include the 20-hectare Atria Park District of Ayala Land, the 20-hectare Gaisano Business Center, and the high-rise commercial and residential condominiums of DoubleDragon Properties.

Iloilo Business Club executive director Lea Lara, for her part, said that while there is no problem with the current power needs, “stable power supply is needed by 2015 when many of the establishments under construction will begin to open to the public.”

The business group welcomed the planned expansion by Panay Energy.

“Their move to produce additional power will give assurance to investors of ongoing multi-billion investments in Iloilo City,” said Lara.