THE GOVERNMENT declared two of the country’s top diving spots, Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro and Coron in Palawan, as water quality management areas (WQMAs), in order to protect them from the threat of heightened tourism activity.
Jun 062016
Apr 262015
EMERGING POWER, Inc. (EPI) has tapped a company from Iceland to conduct drilling works for its planned 40-megawatt (MW) geothermal project in Oriental Mindoro.
Feb 012014
MANILA, Philippines – Emerging Power Inc. (EPI), a Mindoro-based power company, will launch its 40-megawatt geothermal power plant, a move seen to help bring down power rates in the province by about 40 percent to P6.58 per kilowatt-hour from the current P11 per kwh. This will mean a savings of at least P2.1 billion in four years, according to estimates made by EPI. The geothermal facility will be located in the barangays of Montelago, Montemayor and Melgar-B in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro and will supply 20 MW to Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco). EPI spokesperson Gani Capaning said the facility would help address the problem of power outages and high electricity costs in the province. “If we keep investing in coal and oil, consumers will be paying P40 per kilowatt-hour by year 2030 if we are to use the estimates of institutions like the International Energy Agency (IEA) and The Economist. In contrast, the Montelago geothermal power plant will stabilize the price over the next 20 years and consumers will only pay a maximum of P7.50 per kwh by 2030,” Capaning said. Ormeco president Audel Arago, for his part, said the facility would help augment power supply in the province. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “As we anticipate the Montelago geothermal power plant’s commissioning and operation in (2016), we look forward to the positive economic and environmental impact it will bring, when our consumers shall have been accorded more affordable electricity drawn from renewable energy,” Arago said. Read More …
Jul 072013
MANILA, Philippines – Listed holding firm Jolliville Holdings Inc. plans to pursue two new hydropower projects with a generation capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) worth as much as $75 million. The company aims to initially ride on the increasing energy demand in Mindoro province before expanding in new areas, its top official said. “After the first 10-MW mini-hydro power plant, we might expand our hydropower plant by another 10-20 MW using the same source,” Jolliville chairman and CEO Jolly L. Ting said in an interview. Based on a benchmark investment of $3-3.5 million per MW for hydropower projects, Jolliville will need $60-75 million for the two renewable energy projects. Last week, Jolliville subsidiary Ormin Power Inc. borrowed P1.1-billion from state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines to fund the construction of the 10-MW Inabasan River hydropower project. Ting said the loan covers 70 percent of the total project cost, with the remaining 30 percent to be sourced from internally-generated cash. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The first phase of the run-of-river hydropower venture will start commercial operations in 2015. “We will have to finish the first 10 MW and then we can be ready for another 10 MW,” Ting said, adding that Inabasan River can produce as much as 30 MW of power. Electricity generated by the power plant will be sold to the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco), the sole power distributor in the province. Ormeco distributes power to the entire province of Oriental Mindoro which Read More …
Jun 172013
It’s back to school for Senator-elect Nancy Binay on Monday as she began a five-day course on lawmaking at the University of the Philippines (UP). Binay, a neophyte politician who placed fifth in the recent Senate polls, went along with members of her staff at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance on Monday morning for a legislative training course. “Today, I am here and I am ready to learn kung ano yun mga ins and outs diyan sa Senado,” the senator-elect said in an interview aired over GMA News TV’s “Balitanghali.” Before her Senate stint, Binay served as personal assistant to her parents, Vice President Jejomar Binay and former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay. The senator-elect finished a tourism degree from UP. GMA News’ Sherrie Ann Torres reported that the legislative training course was “customized” for Binay’s needs as a senator. Aside from Binay, other first-time politicians also started taking crash courses to prepare them for their duties. Musician Lito Camo, elected a board member for the second district of Oriental Mindoro, joined some 4,000 other neophyte local government officials at the UP NCPAG on Monday in an introductory course on local lawmaking. Cavite vice governor-elect Jolo Revilla was also seen attending the UP NCPAG course. “Yung tungkol sa mga batas, gusto ko rin malaman. Alam niyo naman, musikero ako. Baka mamaya sabihin ng mga tao, hindi naman pagko-compose ang gagawin sa sangguniang panlalawigan. At least, para wala silang masabi,” Camo said in a television interview. — Andreo Read More …