First Gen, Holcim forge power supply deal
Lopez-led First Gen Corp. has secured a new supply agreement to power up cement firm Holcim’s manufacturing plants in Mindanao.
In a statement on Friday, First Gen said the deal requires the company to provide 22 percent of Holcim’s power needs for its facilities in Davao and Misamis Oriental.
The supply of electricity will be sourced from the geothermal plant of First Gen subsidiary Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in North Cotabato.
“We are pleased to partner with Holcim Philippines to grow viably while decarbonizing. It’s not an easy journey to decarbonize and provide for a regenerative future. This requires collaboration not just through supplying power, but also through solutions that maximize and optimize electricity requirements and working to find a pathway towards net zero,” said First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno.
According to Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer Nicolas George, tapping First Gen complements the group’s efforts to source 65 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. So far, the firm has cut its carbon footprint by more than 20 percent by producing more blended cements, replacing coal with qualified wastes as alternative fuels and raw materials, and shifting to renewable energy.
Holcim also tapped Alsons Power for the supply of 80 percent of its energy requirements in the same facilities in Mindanao.
First Gen is the largest producer of renewable energy in the Philippines, with 1,651 megawatts (MW) of total capacity from a portfolio of 26 power plants running on geothermal, hydro, wind and solar energy. It also owns and operates four other power plants with over 2,000 MW of capacity running on natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel.
In the first six months, First Gen reported a 10-percent drop in its attributable recurring net income to $150 million, pulled down by its geothermal business.
Revenues in the period also dipped by 0.7 percent to $1.278 billion from the previous $1.287 billion due to lower volumes of electricity sold from January to June across its power businesses, excluding its hydro unit.
Breaking down, First Gen generated the bulk or 67 percent of its topline from its natural gas portfolio; 30 percent came from EDC geothermal, wind, and solar, plant; while the remaining boost was provided by its hydro plants.
