The group of taipan Lucio Tan plans to invest in a $1.5-billion liquefied natural gas facility in partnership with a foreign company.
Gerry Tee, overall head of the distilleries operations of LT Group Inc., said the LNG facility could be located in the group’s 38-hectare Batangas property.
“Project of Lucio ‘Bong’ Tan Jr. and his dad to utilize the Pinamucan property in Batangas as a possible site for LNG project. We’ve been looking at our assets and we saw this,” Tee said.
He said a power unit of the group planned to team up with a foreign company on the LNG facility.
“Once they apply (with) DoE, we will announce,” said Tee.
The Pinamucan property houses Himmel Industries Inc., a chemical trading company, while a portion hosts the fuel jet tanks of Philippine Airlines.
Tee said Himmel Industries might be relocated if the LNG plans pushed through.
Tee said the LT Group was looking at putting up re-gasification facilities, LNG terminal and power plants with a capacity of about 1,000 megawatts.
“Initial data, we need around $1.5 billion for the power plant, regas and distribution. We are in the initial stages of getting permits and to reconfigure the land to put up the equipment,” he said.
Tee said there was still room for growth in the emerging LNG industry.
“We can compete. It’s a big pie. Our advantage is we own the land (and we’re near the substation and transmission lines). We know that Malampaya is depleting soon (and) we want to take this opportunity to expand and utilize the land. We are just looking for better partners,” he said.
The younger Tan earlier stressed the need to develop clean and renewable energy projects in the future.
Tan has encouraged his company executives to develop an ability to “go on offensive business mode” to adopt to a changing world advocating technologies that are environmentally-responsible and help ease the impacts of climate change.
“Our thrust is to participate and develop clean and renewable energy projects for our sustainability… reduce our carbon footprint to underscore our commitment to help mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Tan, who is president and chief executive officer of Tanduay Distillers Inc.
“I believe this is incumbent upon us as a responsible corporate entity, where we can invest in technologies that will unravel economic opportunities for the group and our employees,” he added.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi earlier said a Japanese company expressed interest to put up a 1,000-megawatt power project that will run on liquefied natural gas in the Philippines
“A Japanese company will be the one [to put up the power plant],” Cusi said. The power plant could be deployed in 18 to 24 months, he said.
FGen LNG Corp., a joint venture of First Gen Corp. and Tokyo Gas of Japan, last month broke ground on the $1-billion LNG terminal project and announced plan to build a 1,200-MW power project in Batangas City.