BusinessWeek MINDANAO
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Volume IV, No. 74
Market Indicators
As of 5:57 pm mar. 8, 2014 (Saturday)
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P44.38
6,481.83 points
15 cents
X
X Briefly 34.99 points
Leyte-Mindanao link THE Energy Department expects the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to complete the $500-million Leyte-Mindanao interconnection project by 2018, providing a longterm solution to Mindanao’s ongoing power crisis. The Leyte-Mindanao interconnection will enable Mindanao to share power capacity with the Luzon and Visayas grids, especially during supply shortfall, according to the Energy Department. National Grid aims to complete the feasibility study and start construction of the interconnection project within the year. The Energy Department said in a statement it had provided immediate and long-term solutions to address the power shortage in Mindanao, which had worsened due to the continuing shutdown of the 210-megawatt Mindanao coal plant owned by Steag State Power Inc.
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House body pushes for IMEM suspension
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By FROILAN GALLARDO, MindaNews
HE House Committee on Energy recommended last Thursday the suspension of the electricity spot trading in Mindanao following objections from power distributors and consumers here.
Committee chair Rep. R e y n a l d o Um a l i ( 2 n d District, Oriental Mindoro) announced their decision to suspend the Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) just as the public hearing ended here late Thursday afternoon. The committe e a ls o directed all power producers including owners of small generating facilities to connect to the Mindanao grid to help stave off a looming power crisis in Mindanao. Umali said the members of the energy committee decided
to suspend the trading after those who attended the public hearing showed their overwhelming opposition to the IMEM. “This is already good as done. Once we furnish the DOE (Department of Energy) a copy of our resolution, the spot trading stops,” he said. The IMEM was op erat iona lize d by t he National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, a private corporation owned by Henry Sy of SM Group, the Coyuitos and the State Grid of China, suspension/PAGE 11
Vegetable growers BUTUAN City -- Local vegetable growers and key retailers of this city have started talks for a possible regular supply agreement. This was the highlight of the Vegetable Farmers Market Encounter held last month for members of the Caraga Vegetable Growers Network (CarVeGrowN) with major retailers VROSS Meatshop and Berry Happy Mart. As of this writing, CarVeGrowN has started delivery of vegetables to these retailers as part of the initial agreement.
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
WOMEN’S MARCH. Women from different barangays and organizations take part in the morning solidarity walk as part of the International Women’s Day Celebration from the St. Augustine Cathedral in Cagayan De Oro City on Saturday. mindanews photo by erwin mascarinas
UNENDING POWER SHORTAGE? An aerial view of a hydropower plant along Agus River, near scenic Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City. The summer months are expected to lower production in Mindanao’s hydropower facilities and result in power outages. MindaNews photo
Use of gensets pushed M’nao’s organic as drop in Agus-Pulangi products attract plants output looms foreign markets WITH the looming drop in supply outputs of the two main sources of electricity in Mindanao, an inter-agency body has called on companies on the island with power generating capacity to run their facilities to help bridge the island’s supply deficit. In a meeting on Friday to assess the cause of the February 27 island-wide blackout, the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) sought the immediate dispatch of capacities from embedded generators of distribution
utilities, including newly installed modular generator sets (gensets) of several electric cooperatives. “We find it viable to quickly resolve the supply deficit by tapping what is already available in the system, as measures are being exerted to restore affected power plants back online,” said Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), which also heads the MPMC. gensets/PAGE 11
MINDANAO’S organic black rice and coco sugar earned international attention at the recently held 25th Biofach Organic Fair, the world’s leading trade fair for organic food products held last month in Nuremberg, Germany. Bios Dynamis, an organic rice producer popular for its sought-after organic black rice, and the TreeLife coco sugar from the town o f C a r m e n s h ow c a s e d Mindanao-grown organic products during the four-day exhibit in Germany, which was attended by more than 42,000 trade visitors from 135 countries. The event featured 2,235 exhibitors from 76 countries who presented their food and cosmetic products to top buyers from Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. “The reception of the international community to foreign/PAGE 11
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