B3 CorporateWorld Leyte geothermal power plant sustains damage from ‘Yolanda’ Vista Land eyes partners for mall expansion move wednesday | november 20, 2013
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ENERGY Development Corp (EDC) yesterday said its Unified Leyte geothermal power complex sustained heav y da mage from t he on s l au g ht of Ty p ho on ‘Yolanda’. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Lopez-owned EDC said the following equipment have been rendered inoperable: - C o ol i ng towers of the 232-megawatt (MW) M a l i t b o g , 11 2 . 5 - M W Tongona n a nd 180 -M W Mahanagdong power plants; - Par t of t he cooling system of 130-MW Upper Mahiao power plant; and - Cont rol systems of Tongonan, Mahanagdong and Upper Mahiao power plants. “C onsequent ly, none of the main power plants constituting the 650-MW are current ly operable,” EDC said. Besides the said equipment, Unified Leyte’s small optimization plants -- consisting of the 15-MW Tongonan Topping Cycle and the 16-MW Malitbog Bot tomi ng Cycle -- a re undergoing assessment for any damage. “The company is exerting all best efforts to return all the power plants back to service at the soonest possible time,” EDC said. The Unified Leyte’s steam field appears to be operable despite manifest damage susta ined, t he compa ny said.
Hefty increase in gasoline prices set G A S OL I N E pr ic e s went up sta r t i ng yesterday by P1.10 a l it er. Pilipinas Shell however s a id “s e le c t e d sit e s” i n t he fol low i ng t y pho onhit a reas however wou ld be spared from this latest pr ice h i ke: A k la n; A nt iqu e ; C api z ; I loi lo; B o g o , C e b u ; Ta c l o b a n Cit y a nd ot her p a r t s of L e y t e ; a nd S a m a r. Pet ron wou ld a lso spa re t y phoon-h it a rea s from t he latest price hike. “This reflects movements in the i nt e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t ,” t h e c o u n t r y ’s b i g g e s t oi l re f i ner a nd re t a i ler s a id . No simi lar movement i n t h e pr i c e s o f d i e s e l a nd kerosene however is for t hc om i ng t h i s we e k . O t her oi l f i r m s h ave yet to make similar announcements, but t he y u s u a l ly t r a c k e a c h ot her’s movements since t he countr y impor ts 90 percent of its f uel re qu i rement s . Shell and Petron a c c ou nt for at le a s t 6 0 percent of the Philippine f u e l m a rk e t .
However, almost all of the company’s buildings in the geothermal complex have sustained varying degrees of damage, EDC said. All of Unified Leyte’s work force have also been accounted for but less than a third has reported back to work “due to the fact that all of our employees and their families are residents of Leyte,” the company said. The output of t he Unified Leyte plant, which was contracted by stateowned National Power Corp (Napocor), was recent ly auctioned off. Among those that made qu a l i f y i ng of fers for a portion of Unified Leyte’s generated electricity were FDC Utilities Inc, EDC, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp, Aboitiz E n e r g y S o lu t i o n s I n c , Waterfront Mactan Casino Hotel Inc, Good Friends Hydro Resources Corp, and Vivant Energy Corp.
Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the country’s largest home builder, is talking to both foreign and local prospective partners for its mall business which it is pla nning to expand aggressively starting next year. In an interview, Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar said “we hope to increase our investments in BPO and malls. Over time, we expect their contribution to our revenues increase. He noted that they have been learning the ropes of the business in the past years and have more learnings through sister company Starmalls. “We are ready to launch for next year. We are ready to expand. Starting next year, we will be far more active,” said Villar. expansion/PAGE B10
VISTA RESIDENCES GROUND-BREAKING. Shown (from left) during the ground-breaking ceremonies on November 16,2013 for Vista Residences, a condominium project located in Katipunan, Quezon City of Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc . are: Architect Rod Evans Encinares, Production Head, Vista Residences; Arch. Marlo Asinas, Ms. Elizabeth Kalaw, Division Head , Vista Residences, Arch. Eric Asinas, Wilfred Uy, Eng. Allan Santos, Engr. Sherwin Ventura, Ms. Chai Rada-Lopez, Project Head, Vista Residences; and Noel Bautista Jr., General Manager NJ Construction. photo by kj rosales