Photo courtesy of BOI
MANILA – The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved a PHP919-million biomass plant of Libertad Power and Energy Corp. that will start operation by December this year.
The biomass plant is in Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, and has a capacity of six megawatts.
The BOI said the biomass plant will be selling output to distribution utilities, industrial customers, and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
Once the commercial operation starts, the biomass plant will hire 60 employees apart from the 300 jobs it created for the construction of the project.
“The demand for power in Mindanao will continue to increase due to the resurgence of economic growth as the country prepares for a post-pandemic scenario. The building up of capacity is needed to sustain this demand and ensure that supply of power to consumers is unhampered,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said in a statement Tuesday.
Rodolfo said this kind of project will add capacity to the Mindanao grid and will also contribute to the 823-MW biomass power target capacity by 2040.
Biomass projects are included in BOI’s 2020 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) as renewable energy projects are covered by special laws under the IPP.
Biomass plants use rice husk, coconut husk, rice straw, corn cobs, wood chips, and coconut parts, among others, to generate power. (PNA)
