Absolut in talks with MVP to build waste-to-energy facility

By Lenie Lectura – June 19, 2019
from Business Mirror

ABSOLUT Distillers Inc. (ADI) is in talks with the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan to jointly develop renewable energy (RE), particularly waste-to-energy facility.

“We are talking to Metro Pacific, also a group owned by Manuel V. Pangilinan, to jointly develop in converting our wastewater to energy. They call the company MetPower. This will complement hand in hand with our acquisition of Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc.,” ADI Chief Operating Officer and Head of distillery operations Gerardo T. Tee said.

The company, he explained, wants to utilize the distillery’s wastewater and convert this to a source of energy.

“We want to sell our wastewater to make it a commodity. We want to be the first distillery, at least in this region, to make our wastewater a commodity.

Our wastewater has high biological oxygen demand and that is equivalent to methane gas which can be converted to energy when you place it in a digester in a bioreactor,” Tee said.

Tee explained that ADI’s existing bioethanol facility has a digester, an equipment that produces methane gas which is then fed to its wastewater to metabolize bacteria and reduce pollution.

The resulting organic waste has a potential for biogas that can be used to produce energy.  The waste-to-energy facility may have a capacity of 3.5 megawatts (MW).

“These are the synergies that we can have,” Tee said, referring to Pangilinan group.

ADI is also in talks with the camp of Pangilinan to rebid for the assets of sugar milling firm CADP.

“We are talking to MVP about this. We are trying to rebid because the last bid we submitted was quite low. Last time—three or four weeks ago—we submitted I think P4 billion something. I’ve been trying to get CADP for the last two years because it is just adjacent to my plant. Separated lang kami by a river,” Tee said earlier.

The revised bid is expected to be submitted this week.