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August 2009

2 Filipino firms win top USAID energy awards

By: Madel R. Sabater
Manila Bulletin
19 June 2009 p.12

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has conferred the Clean Energy Financing Award on a Filipino independent power producer in recognition of its energy products in the country.

ASEA One Power Corp. (AOPC) won first place in the USAID-Private Finance Advisory Network (PFAN) Clean Energy Finance Award category. The AOPC is an independent power producer in several islands in the country , perticularyly in Palawan and Siquijor.

Winning second place was the Solutions Using Renewable Energy (SURE). It is also a Filipino-owned company with renewable energy (RE) projects in Southeast Asia.

The two bested for other finalists, namely: Clean Tech Energy Systems, Cleansave Waste Corporation, Solarco, and Longogan Holdings.

The six were chosen by PFAN as finalists during the Philippine Business Plan Competition.
All six projects had a total investment velue of more than US$500 million, comprising debt and equity financing.

The six were chosen for their potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 1.5 million metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide per year, according to USAID.

“The fact that they are winners make the projects more recognizable, especially to investors,” USAID regional environmental advisor Orestes Anastasia said in a phone interview with Manila Bulletin.

Sumitomo, Marubeni eye renewable energy projects

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula Philstar.com Updated March 29, 2009 12:00

MANILA, Philippines – MG Leasing Corp. (MGL), a joint venture between Japanese industrial giants Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Corp. (SMFLC) and Marubeni Corp., is planning to invest in renewable energy projects in the Philippines.

In a statement, MGL said it has entered into an agreement with local firm, Solutions Using Renewable Energy Inc. (SURE) for the creation of a corporate vehicle, SURE Eco Energy Philippines Inc. (SURE Eco),  to pursue this plan.

MGL is 55 percent owned by SMFLC and 45 percent by Marubeni.

SURE corporate secretary Clarence De Guia said under the agreement, SURE Eco will be tasked to implement several identified waste-to-energy projects.

These include the waste-to-power facility of San Miguel Corp.’s Monterey hog farm in Sumilao, Bukidnon and similar biomass-fired power plants for Silangan Farms in Lipa City, Batangas Holiday Hills Stock and Breeding Farm Corp. in San Pedro, Laguna, and Santos Farms in Gen. Natividad, Nueva Ecija.

MGL plans to raise more than $3 million to construct and operate the projects that have been assigned to SURE Eco.

De Guia said the establishment of SURE Eco is timely as Congress had just passed the Renewable Energy Act.

“It gives MGL a presence in the Philippine RE business, which is becoming more popular and international in scope due to global concerns about dwindling fossil fuel stock and pollution,” he said.

MGL officer Daisuke Ishihara, in charge of developing the company’s RE portfolio in the Philippines, said with this development, “the Japanese company is considering the establishment of a Philippine office.”

SURE was organized by a group of RE and environment experts that include retired officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Its clients include companies that handle large amounts of biomass waste, like those from poultry and pig farms. It also offers its services to clients under an innovative build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract.

De Guia said under the BOT contract, SURE will be constructing and operating the RE plants on behalf of the clients.

On top of this, SURE sells to clients its electricity output at a hefty discount, approximating 20 percent lower than what its clients are paying.

“SURE commits to turn over ownership of the generator to the client within a short period of only seven years,” the SURE official added.

De Guia also said SURE client also earns from the sale of organic fertilizer and other useful by-products from the conversion of waste to energy.

SURE he said also shares with the client whatever revenues that will be derived from trading the carbon credits of the waste-to-energy facility.

Japanese, Local Firms into Renewable Energy

By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:25:00 03/26/2009

MANILA, Philippines — MG Leasing Corp., a leasing company owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Corp. and Marubeni Corp., has formed a joint venture with local firm Solutions Using Renewable Energy Inc. (SURE) to handle renewable energy projects in the country.

The joint venture, Sure Eco Energy Philippines Inc., is 60-percent owned by the Japanese group and 40 percent by SURE.

In a statement, SURE corporate secretary Clarence de Guia said the joint venture would assume several waste-to-energy projects currently under the SURE portfolio.

These include a waste-to-power facility of San Miguel Corp.’s Monterey hog farm in Sumilao town in the southern province of Bukidnon and biomass-fired power plants of Silangan Farms in Lipa City, Batangas, south of Manila; Holiday Hills Stock and Breeding Farm Corp. in San Pedro town, outside Manila, and Santos Farms in General Natividad town in the northern province of Nueva Ecija.

In exchange, MG Leasing will generate the additional funding needed to put up and run these projects, De Guia said. Its investment infusion amounts to more than $3 million, he added.

MG Leasing’s Daisuke Ishihara said establishment of the joint venture could prompt the Japanese firm to put up a Philippines office.

SURE holds a wide range of renewable energy projects, for companies that handle huge amounts of biomass waste, such as those in the poultry and hog businesses, De Guia said.

Using technologies developed in-house, it serves clients on a build-operate-transfer scheme, and spares clients from putting up capital to construct a facility to dispose of or treat their waste materials, he said.

SURE also sells to clients the electricity it produces, he added. With editing by INQUIRER.net

Sumitomo, Mitsui, Marubeni joint venture Japanese firms invest in RE project here

Manila Bulletin, 26 March 2009, p B1

Sumitomo, Mitsui, Marubeni joint venture

Japanese firms invest in RE project here

By JAMES A. LOYOLA

March 25, 2009, 7:31pm

Japan’s three giant conglomerates – Sumitomo, Mitsui and Marubeni – are investing in the local renewable energy industry through a joint venture between their leasing firm and a local company.

MG Leasing Corporation (MGL) of Japan and Solutions Using Renewable Energy, Inc. (SURE) formalized their partnership recently by organizing a 60-40 joint venture company, called SURE Eco Energy Philippines, Inc. (SURE Eco).

MGL, a general leasing firm, is 55 percent owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Corporation (SMFLC) and 45 percent by Marubeni Corporation. SMFLC counts among its major stockholders Sumitomo Corporation and the Mitsui Group.

SURE, which is considered the most active renewable energy (RE) company in the Philippines, also keeps the widest mix of renewable energy projects among local RE players.

Lawyer Clarence De Guia, SURE corporate secretary and spokesman, explained that, under the signed joint venture agreement, SURE will assign to SURE Eco several identified waste-to-energy projects in SURE’s portfolio.

These include the waste-to-power facility of San Miguel Corporation’s Monterey hog farm in Sumilao, Bukidnon; and similar biomass-fired power plants for Silangan Farms in Lipa City, Batangas; Holiday Hills Stock and Breeding Farm Corporation in San Pedro, Laguna; and Santos Farms in Gen. Natividad, Nueva Ecija.

In turn, MGL has agreed to raise additional capital needed to build and operate the projects that have been assigned to SURE Eco. Infusion from MGL amounts to more than $3 million.

The establishment of SURE Eco gives MGL a presence in the Philippine RE business, which is becoming more popular in the global front because of concerns about dwindling fossil fuel stock and pollution.

MGL’s presence in the Philippine RE business reflects its owners recognition that environmental issues are global in scale and are long-term matters affecting future generations.

MGL official Daisuke Ishihara announced that, with this development, the Japanese leasing company is considering the establishment of a Philippine office. Ishihara played an instrumental role in the development of MGL’s RE portfolio.

SURE was organized by a group of RE and environment experts that include retired officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Its clients include companies that handle a large amount of biomass waste, like those from poultry and pig farms.