Absolut Distillers mulls P500-M sugar mill, co-gen plant in Batangas

LIAN, Batangas, Philippines – Absolut Distillers Inc. (ADI) plans to invest at least P500 million to put up a sugar mill and co-generation plant in its Batangas facility as part of its thrust in the renewable energy (RE) sector.

This will be the next possible RE investment for the Lucio Tan Group (LTG) after the two-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in ADI’s Batangas facility, LTG CFO and SVP Nestor Mendones told reporters after the inauguration of the new bioethanol facility yesterday.

“The next possibility here is sugarcane crusher. If we have this, the next [RE investment] could be a co-generation facility because the bagasse from crushed sugar can be used to generate power,” he said.

The sugar mill can process up to 2,000 tonnes per day, utilizing cane juices and possibly sweet sorghum, Gerardo Tee, ADI COO and overall-in-charge of LTG’s distillery operations, said in the same briefing.

ADI is looking to build a co-generation plant with a capacity of three to four megawatts (MW), he added.

The company would spend at least P500 million for the sugarcane mill and another P200 million for the co-generation plant, Tee noted.

Construction for the sugar mill and the co-generation plant will start as soon as funding is secured.

“Construction would take one-and-a half years or  within two years,” Tee said. “I’m looking at a 2017 completion if we get funding this year.”

ADI has invested over P350 million in its Batangas facility. The first is the P70-million methane recovery system.

Last March, LTG inaugurated its P189-million, two-MW solar plant in the Batangas facility, which supplies 40 percent of the alcohol distillery’s power requirements.

Meanwhile, the bioethanol facility is ADI’s third installment to its multi-million investment project in its Batangas facility. Its production volume is estimated at three million liters per month and 100,000 liters per day.

Its major off-takers include Seaoil and Flying V.

Ethanol is used in the gasoline blend and comes from agricultural crops such as sugar.

Under the Biofuels Act of 2006, the government has mandated a 10-percent ethanol blend in gasoline.