GE launches waste-to-energy project with Aseagas in the Philippines

Aseagas, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power and renewable energy company, has signed an agreement with GE's Distributed Power business to power its first waste-to-electricity project in Lian in the province of Batangas, Philippines.

The 8.8MW facility will be a biomass power plant running with GE's 'ecomagination' approved Jenbacher gas engines. The Batangas plant will utilise organic waste from sugarcane and molasses from a nearby alcohol distillery. Aside from electricity, the plant will have by-products of fertiliser and CO2 that can be sold to farmers and beverage companies, respectively. The plant will be able to generate power for an estimated 22,000 homes.

'I think there's a huge potential for biomass energy in the Philippines. Our population of about 100 million is bound to generate abundant biomass resources including agricultural crop residues, animal wastes and agro-industrial wastes,' says Aseagas CEO Juan Alfonso. 'The Philippines' feed-in tariff allocation right now is 250MW for biomass. Other countries like Germany, for example, have thousands of megawatts of biomass. So we're just scratching the surface.'

Additionally, the Department of Energy has stated that the Philippines' supply of biomass resources has the potential to generate a capacity of 4,450MW, which is equivalent to 40% of the country's energy needs, if developed.

GE's gas engine technology will ensure the Aseagas power plant's high levels of efficiency, modularity and reliability in supplying power to the Philippine grid.

Seven of GE's Jenbacher gas engines, four J420 and three J320 units, will be delivered to Aseagas by October 2015 for the first of three phases of the project, targeting the power plant to go online before year's end. The second phase commences early in 2016. DESCO Inc., GE's authorised distributor for Jenbacher gas engines in the Philippines, will be in charge of the installation and maintenance of the units.

 

SOURCE: GE