DMCI Power expects gov’t nod for P3-B subsea cable

DMCI Power Corp. is optimistic about securing the government’s clearance for its proposal to build a P3-billion submarine cable that will link the islands of Semirara and Mindoro.

Antonino Gatdula Jr., president of DMCI Power, said the company expects to receive the go signal in the next quarter, especially as the project would support renewable energy deployment. If approved, construction works would take about two years.

For the 19-kilometer subsea infrastructure, the executive said the group would tap the expertise of foreign developers. However, no further details were shared yet.

The project, which was already brought up last year, would complement the firm’s plan to build solar, wind and coal facilities on Semirara to eventually replace bunker and diesel power plants.

Asked about generating capacities, the company said solar could be massive with a target of about 2,000 megawatts (MW); 100 MW is eyed for wind; while 30 MW is planned for coal.

Gatdula said that deploying a solar power facility on Semirara Island will not displace agricultural lots, as the potential site is an industrial area. The island likewise provides “high wind potential.”

“We don’t need to wait for the connection of Batangas and Mindoro to lower the cost of power in Mindoro,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“The fastest is the shortest distance, which is Semirara and Mindoro. And I think that’s a lot cheaper than the Batangas-Mindoro interconnection,” Gatdula added.

If the projects were realized, the company is seeing savings of at least P2 billion for the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME). The current cost of electricity from diesel and bunker oil are considered more expensive than the that expected from the proposed projects.

The UCME subsidizes the higher costs of delivering and supplying power to off-grid areas.

DMCI Power is the off-grid energy unit of Consunji-led DMCI Holdings, Inc.

It has 188.3 MW of installed capacity and operates thermal, bunker, diesel and wind power plants in Masbate, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan and Antique.