DMCI Power pushes SPUG exclusion from coal ban

DMCI Power Corp., a subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, Inc., is pushing for the exclusion of Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants, operated by the National Power Corp. (NPC) for off-grid areas, from the coal moratorium.

“I think the moratorium should exclude SPUG because, in SPUG, you are replacing diesel — the most expensive fuel,” DMCI Power Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Isidro A. Consunji told reporters in mixed English and Filipino late Monday.

DMCI Power operates in areas served by SPUG.

SPUG power plants provide electricity to remote and off-grid areas not connected to the main power grids. DMCI Power is involved in generating power for these areas, often through coal-fired power plants.

To date, NPC operates 272 SPUG power plants in 222 areas.

In 2020, the Department of Energy issued a moratorium on the development of new coal-fired power plants.

Mr. Consunji said that the company’s coal-fired power plant in the off-grid area of Masbate supplies electricity at a rate of P9 to P10 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is lower than the P19 to P23 per kWh cost of diesel-generated electricity.

DMCI Power has an existing 15-year power supply agreement with Masbate Electric Cooperative through a competitive selection process.

The company executive said that consumers in SPUG areas “do not have the money to pay for their electricity bills, but unfortunately, they are currently the ones paying for expensive electricity.”

He also said that the company’s proposed coal-fired power plant in Palawan will proceed as it was “pre-approved” even before the coal moratorium took effect.

DMCI Power focuses on providing energy to off-grid small and remote islands.

It operates and maintains bunker-fired power plants, diesel generating sets, and thermal power plants in Masbate, Palawan, and Oriental Mindoro.

MINING
Meanwhile, DMCI Holdings said that it could not comment on the Consunji family’s plans to inject its 10% stake in the Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato to the listed firm.

In a regulatory filing, DMCI said that the transaction was “private transaction contemplated above the listed company.”

“No definitive agreement has been executed concerning this matter at this time,” the company added.

It said that DMCI’s potential 10% acquisition of the Tampakan mine site has not yet been discussed by its board of directors.

“Its infusion in DMCI’s portfolio will require the customary board approval requirement,” it added.

The Tampakan project is said to be among the largest untapped minefields in Southeast Asia. The site is estimated to contain 15 million tons of copper and 17.6 million tons of gold.

On the other hand, its mining unit DMCI Mining Corp. said it is still keen on starting the commercial operations of its new Zambales and Palawan nickel mine sites within the year.

“(Zambales) would be within the year; (for Palawan), our internal targets are also within the year,” DMCI Mining President Tulsi Das C. Reyes said.

Last year, Mr. Reyes said the company was targeting to begin operations at the Zambales nickel site by the first quarter of 2024, while the other site was targeted for the second quarter.

The company had said that it was securing permits for new mines in Zambales and Palawan to boost production and shipments.

He added that both mine sites expect to produce one million metric tons (MT) of nickel ore annually, based on its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

“Our ECC for Palawan is one million MT, and our ECC for Zambales is (also) one million MT,” Mr. Reyes said.

DMCI Mining’s new nickel mine would be operated by its subsidiary Zambales Chromite Metals Corp., with estimated ore of about 20 million MT.

“For Zambales Chromite, we hope to have good news in the near future… We have fully submitted all the documentation for Zambales,” he added.

The Zambales site would be in an existing area owned by the company’s unit Zambales Diversified Metals Corp. Additionally, Mr. Reyes said that the company is still planning to break ground for the Palawan mine site this 2024. The new mine site has an estimated 70 million MT of ore.

“It would be within the year, backhoes on the ground,” he added. The exact location of the Palawan site has yet to be disclosed.

DMCI Mining reported a net loss of P43 million for the second quarter, a reversal of the P250 million net income reported a year earlier. The company attributed this to weak market prices, reduced shipments, and costs incurred at its Palawan mine.

For the first half of the year, the company spent about P200 million on fleet expansion, exploration, and site development activities at pipelined mining areas.

The company operates open-pit mines in Palawan and Zambales through its subsidiaries Berong Nickel Corp. and ZDMC. It extracts nickel ore, chromite, and iron laterite. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera and Adrian H. Halili