RP-Canadian venture to develop renewable energy projects

MANILA, Philippines - Starting next year, the Philippines may launch a slew of renewable energy projects after a state-led corporation entered a joint venture with a Canadian company. The partnership will allow the Philippine National Oil Co.’s Renewables Corp. (PNOCRC) and the Toronto-headquartered Constellation Energy Corp. (CEC) to share industry expertise and utilize each other’s management, financial, and technical resources, officials said. The joint venture “will be the vehicle…to make renewable energy projects operational by 2010 at the earliest," PNOC president and chief executive officer Antonio M. Cailao said. This sentiment was echoed by the president of PNOCRC, the renewable energy unit of the state-led oil company. The agreement with CEC “will fast track our hydro, solar, and wind energy projects," Pedro Maniego Jr. said. “We are initially looking at projects that will produce from 25 to 50 megawatts of energy," he added. Renewable energy projects may be established in Mindoro, Palawan, and the Visayas since these areas are experiencing electricity shortages. The said company may also be allowed to engage in geothermal energy production, Cailao said. In 2007, when PNOC sold the Energy Development Corp. (EDC), Cailoa added that he refused to agree with a “non-compete clause that would prevent the PNOC from engaging in geothermal energy production." CEC is a subsidiary of Canada-based Enerasia Renewable Corp. - GMANews.TV