The 8.8 MW Batangas facility will be a biomass power plant incorporating GE’s ecomagination-approved Jenbacher gas engines, utilising organic waste from sugar cane and molasses from a local alcohol distillery. The plant will also sell by-products of fertiliser and CO2 to farmers and beverage companies thereby achieving a complete ‘no additional waste’ production. The plant will be able to generate power for an estimated 22,000 homes.
Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to technology solutions that save money and reduce environmental impact for its customers and its own operations. It was founded by GE in 2005
“I think there’s a huge potential for biomass energy in the Philippines” said Aseagas chief operating officer Juan Alfonso. “Our population of about 100 million is bound to generate abundant biomass resources including agricultural crop residues, animal wastes and agro-industrial wastes. The Philippines’ feed-in tariff allocation right now is 250 MW for biomass. Other countries like Germany, for example, have thousands of megawatts of biomass. So we’re just scratching the surface.”
John Alcordo, ASEAN regional general manager for GE’s Distributed Power business, added that the collaboration is the first power generation deal with the Aboitiz group and is the largest procurement of Jenbacher engines in the Philippines to date. Seven of the engines will be delivered to Aseagas by October 2015 for the first three phases of the project with the aim of enabling the plant to go online before the end of the year. The second phase will commence in early 2016. GE’s authorised distributor for Jenbacher gas engines in the Philippines, DESCO Incorporated, will be in charge of installation and maintenance of the units.
According to the Philippines Department of Energy, the country’s supply of biomass resources could potentially generate a capacity of 4,450 MW, which is equivalent to 40 percent of the country’s energy needs, if developed. The use of alternative sources of energy in the Philippines is seen as vital in powering sustainable progress.
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