A. Brown unit inks power purchase deal

MANILA, Philippines—A. Brown Co. Inc. subsidiary Peakpower Energy Inc. signed an Electric Power Purchase Agreement (EPPA) with the Agusan del Sur Electric Cooperative Inc. (Aselco) early this month.

In a statement, A. Brown said the agreement was in line with efforts of both parties to address the power crisis in Mindanao.

Under the deal, to be submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission for approval, both parties agreed on the installation and operation by Peakpower of a complete and fully operational 5-megawatt bunker-fired power plant within Aselco’s franchise area. The project will be under a build-operate-maintain-transfer framework.

“We’re grateful to Aselco’s management for their positive outlook and their acceptance of our proposal,” Peakpower president Roel Z. Castro said.

“The proposed power project is very timely since Aselco is in immediate need of generating capacity for its peaking requirements. We need this to fulfill our mandate and to address the adverse effects of the electricity crisis in our area,” Aselco president Joel Q. Jumonong said.

Aselco has the exclusive franchise to own and operate a system for the distribution of electricity in the City of Bayugan and the municipalities of San Francisco, Prosperidad, Rosario Trento, Bunawan, Veruela, Sta. Josefa, Loreto, Sibagat, Esperanza, Talacogon, La Paz and San Luis in Agusan del Sur. The power cooperative is also mandated to provide reliable power supply for consumers in its franchise area.

Currently, Mindanao is experiencing power shortage due to the curtailment of power generation capacities by National Power Corp./Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. The shortage is most severely felt during hours of the day when power demand is at its peak.

Due to the power supply deficiency, Aselco was compelled to implement manual load dropping and brown-outs within its franchise area during peak hours. This leads to massive business and industry losses and grave inconvenience to customers.

ABCI and Aselco see the urgency of setting up the new power facility since there is no new large generating capacity scheduled to come online in the Mindanao grid in the next three years.

Aside from power, ABCI also has interests in real estate, agribusiness and investments in listed companies. A publicly-listed company since 1994, ABCI, through subsidiary Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corp., is also involved in the development of the 135-MW coal-fired power plant project in Concepcion, Iloilo.—Riza T. Olchondra