Alsons To Focus On Advancing Hydroelectric Power

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., (ACR) will focus on advancing the development of two run-of-river hydroelectric power projects in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Negros Occidental in 2022.

Photo Insert: Work on a 786-meter tunnel to complete a 21.6-kilometer headrace or waterway to convey water from the Siguil River and control water pressure to power the plant’s turbine and generator

At the company’s annual stockholders meeting, ACR Executive Vice President Tirso G. Santillan, Jr. named these projects as a 21 megawatt (MW) hydropower plant in Zamboanga del Norte being developed by ACR’s Sindangan Zambo-River Power Corporation and the Bago river hydroelectric power plant in Negros Occidental, the company’s first power project outside of Mindanao, with a planned capacity of up to 42 MW.

Mr. Santillan also noted that the company’s initial hydropower project, the 14.5 MW Siguil Hydro Plant in Sarangani Province would be commencing commercial operations in the second quarter of 2023.

“The Siguil, Sindangan, and Bago river hydropower plants will be the first three of at least eight run-of-river hydroelectric power plants that ACR plans to develop in the years to come. This is all in keeping with the Department of Energy’s mandate to ensure that all key areas have access to readily available sources of renewable energy,” Mr. Santillan stated.

In his financial report at the same meeting ACR Group Chief Finance Officer Alexander Benhur M. Simon declared, “Despite a challenging business environment and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to achieve higher revenues and net income attributable to parent due to operating efficiencies and cost-cutting measures. “

The publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group had earlier reported that consolidated revenues for 2021 grew 6% to ₱10.05 billion from ₱9.47 billion in the prior year with full-year attributable net income rising 24% to ₱ 405 million from ₱325 million in 2020.

ACR’s 210 MW Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) baseload power plant continued to be the key revenue and income driver for the company. SEC currently provides power to key areas in Mindanao including Sarangani Province, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and Iligan.

“Sarangani Energy Corporation continued to be the major revenue driver, delivering a combined output of 974-gigawatt hours in 2021, versus 952-gigawatt hours in 2020,” Mr. Simon stated in his report.

“For the rest of the year... We expect higher revenues and profit margins as we continue to realize incremental revenues from ancillary services and additional utilization of the available capacity of SEC.”

Another key revenue contributor for ACR was the continuing operation of the company’s 100 MW Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC) diesel plant in Zamboanga City. WMPC is the only major power generation facility in the Zamboanga Peninsula, providing power to Zamboanga City and supplying vital ancillary services to stabilize the power grid in the Western Mindanao Region.

ACR, which is Mindanao’s first private-sector power generator, has a portfolio of four power facilities with an aggregate capacity of 468 MW serving over eight million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in the country’s second largest island.

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