Aboitiz Power Corp. is looking at two interested parties for the selling of its 8.8 MW biomass power plant in Lian, Batangas under the branch of Aseasgas Corp.
“We’re talking to two interested parties — one local and one foreign,” said Emmanuel V. Rubio, AboitizPower Chief Operating Officer.
“I’m aiming before the close of 2018 for this option,” he added.
Prioritizing the interests of its stakeholders and employees, the company announced in January it would permanently stop the operations of the biomass power plant due to shortage in organic materials that produce electricity.
Last year in December, AboitizPower said the plant had to be temporarily closed due to failure to convert wastewater from its supplier Absolut Distillers into clean and renewable energy.
“At that time when we decided to close it, the feedstock is a bit erratic,” he said.
He said that the company has been assured that there will be available feedstock from Absolut, which he said had expanded as well. He added that the company is open to a joint venture.
“But if we can sell it, if we can close it within the year, we’d do that. Pero (But) if not, we’ll be operating it again. We’ll see, we’re not closing [that] option,” he said.
Due to a non-disclosure agreement, the details of the negotiating parties were kept mum but Rubio assured that the talks between the two parties had progressed.
“We have the draft proposals and agreements. It’s being reviewed now. One is doing due diligence,” he said. “If they’re interested it will happen.”
Running the biomass plant is still an option, he said.
The plant’s closure including the Aseagas invested equity of P3.45 billion resulted in an estimated remaining obligations of around P 250 million.
In July 2016, AboitizPower acquired the biomass plant, effectively widening its renewable energy footprint including large hydro, run-of-river hydro, geothermal, and solar.
The deal was finalized through Aboitiz Renewables Inc. AboitizPower obtained Aseagas from its affiliated firm Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.
The Aseagas facility acquisition marked the entry of AboitizPower’s entry into biomass technology. The biomass plant was expected to power about 22,000 households while producing 33 tons of liquid carbon dioxide daily for the industrial and beverage industries.
Photo courtesy of AboitizPower
