GT Capital eyes energy projects for power unit

Newly listed GT Capital Holdings Inc. is studying opportunities in renewable energy for power generation unit Global Business Power within the framework of a newly approved feed-in-tariff (FIT) regime.

“It warrants a study definitely and to the extent there’s feed-in-tariff, we’re open to consider it because it will be a good complement to our existing plants,” GT Capital president Carmelo Bautista said in an interview last week.

Asked what type of renewable energy the group would consider, Bautista said it would depend on the expertise of a prospective partner. “It is always dependent on the technical competency of our partner. If we can find a partner that’s strong in hydro or solar, maybe that’s the direction we’ll take,” he said.

But Bautista added that everything was still under study given that Global Business’ core competence was coal-fired power generation.

The Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved the much awaited FIT rates for four renewable energy resources: P9.68 a kilowatt-hour for solar; P8.53/kWh for wind; P6.63/kWh for biomass; and P5.90/kWh for hydropower projects. The commission deferred fixing the FIT rates for ocean thermal energy conversion (Otec) resource for further study and data gathering.

The FIT regime is an incentive for project proponents to generate fixed cash flow for the next 20 years.

GT Capital jacked up its first-half net profit by 136 percent year on year to P4 billion as one-time gains booked by property unit Federal Land Inc. added to a double-digit expansion in core earnings.

Consolidated revenues for the first semester jumped 188 percent to P10 billion year on year, resulting mainly from higher net income contribution of associates, the consolidation of power generation unit Global Business Power Corp. and the extraordinary gain of Federal Land.

Global Power grew its first-half net income by 134 percent year on year to P1.3 billion, driven by the full-year operations of its coal-fired plants in Cebu and Panay, complemented by the company’s participation in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.