DMCI Power set to commission Masbate diesel plant

MANILA, Philippines — Off-grid energy player DMCI Power Corp. is set to commission this month an eight-megawatt (MW) diesel plant in Masbate, which is part of its P745 million investments to provide adequate and reliable power in the province.

DMCI Power said final testing and commissioning of the diesel power plant in Cataingan is underway.

The Cataingan plant is targeted to go online by mid-December.

Last Nov. 4, DMCI Power deployed and operated a three-MW diesel plant in Pio V. Corpuz.

“One plant is already operational while the other is set to run within the month. These investments are in line with our commitment to provide adequate, reliable, and dependable power supply in missionary areas,” DMCI Power president Antonino Gatdula Jr. said

Due to robust demand, DMCI Power said energy sales in Masbate expanded by 11 percent in the nine months to September.

The company spent P745 million to install an additional 11 MW of generation capacity in Masbate, boosting its total installed capacity in the province by 21 percent.

With the additional plants, DMCI now has a consolidated installed capacity of 148 MW located across Masbate, Palawan, and Oriental Mindoro.

Its energy portfolio includes diesel, bunker and thermal.

Next year, DMCI Power is targeting to include solar in the company’s energy mix.

“We have a four MW solar plant that’s set to operate in Masbate by the fourth quarter of 2023,” Gatdula said.

DMCI Power was established in 2006 to energize the small and remote islands in the country that are not connected to the main power grid.

It is currently the biggest off-grid power provider in the Philippines.