LT Group invests in wind farm

MANILA, Philippines - LT Group Inc., the listed holding firm of the Lucio Tan Group, is teaming up with renewable energy firm led by former Energy Secretary Vince Perez to expand a wind project in Rizal.

LT Group CFO and SVP Nestor Mendones said the company has partnered with Alternergy Wind One Corp. for a possible expansion of its existing wind farm in Pilila, Rizal.

“They have a project there and it just so happens we have an adjacent property so they asked us if we are interested to partner,” he said.

Mendones said the partnership was “approved in principle by LT management.”

The timetable for the implementation and corporate structure is not yet finalized but LT Group would only be a minority partner in the project, he added.

“Alternergy is the lead company, so we are just an investor,” Mendones said.

Alternergy has completed the 67.5-megawatt (MW) Pililla wind power project in Rizal, which has applied to receive incentives under the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme in the second round for wind.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved a FIT rate of P7.40 per kwh for the next batch of wind projects.

Earlier this year, Alternergy said it is putting up another wind power facility in Pililla, Rizal, named Sembrano wind farm, with a capacity of 72 MW and costing $236 million.