Press Releases

February 19, 2014

RHI, GBPC look at contributing power to the national grid

Roxas Holdings, Inc. (PSEi: ROX), the Philippines’ largest integrated sugar business, and Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC), Visayas’ leading independent power provider, are looking at the possibility of contributing power to the national grid in the future.

RHI Chairman Pedro E. Roxas said the collaboration between the Group and GBPC, the power-generating arm of tycoon George Ty’s GT Capital, in undertaking a feasibility study for a 40-megawatt biomass power plant, may help address the rising demand for energy.

“We hope that the feasibility study on the 40-MW biomass power plant in La Carlota, Negros Occidental, which will use bagasse from our plants, will equip the Group to have stable power supply, and enable our units to contribute excess power to the national grid,” Mr. Roxas said.

Based on reports, global energy demand is seen to double in 2050 given the high growth levels in populations across the world.

RHI President & CEO Renato C. Valencia said the two groups will engage the services of Pöyry Energy Ltd., a leading international consulting and energy company, to undertake a feasibility study to determine the viability of the planned project.

The planned project is anchored on cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), which involves the use of a power station to simultaneously generate electricity and usable heat.

“This initiative allows RHI to move a step forward in aligning its operating standards to best of class globally by reducing wastes in the plants and increasing recovery at the business units,” added Mr. Valencia.

GBPC Executive Vice President Jaime T. Azurin said RHI and GBPC — the exclusive partners in the biomass power plant project — will share in the costs of the feasibility study.

Luis O. Villa-Abrille, RHI Senior Vice President for Quality Assurance and Business Development, explained that the proposed biomass power project will reduce work stoppages resulting from unstable power supply in the plants.