Philippine food firm moves into power generation

Universal Robina Corporation to produce renewable power.

The company will build a 45 megawatt biomass-fed power plant to be fed by bagasse or sugarcane pulp. The bagasse is a by-product of the sugar milling operations at its plant in the province of Negros Occidental in the Visayas region south of Manila.

There are six sugar mills in the plant and with new technology, URC can generate electricity for its own use and sell the extra to the grid. The new Electric Power Industry Reform Act law allows producers to sell to the grid. The first plant will be a pilot project with 16 MW to 22 MW to be sold..

One of the largest food product companies in the Philippines, URC will need to invest some US$1.5 million to generate one megawatt of power. Total project cost is estimated at US$60 million.

Construction of the power plant will take three years with the first phase to begin in 2014. The mill has a milling capacity of 10,000 tons of cane a day, with a third ending up as bagasse.