SCUTTLEBUTT

SMC country

Mega Asian conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has consolidated its hold over the province of Bulacan with a recent transaction involving Filipinas Water Holdings Corp. (FWHC), Manny V. Pangilinan-controlled Manila Water Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary, and SMC Bulacan Water Services Corp. for the sale of FWHC’s 90-percent stake in Bulakan Water Co. and Obando Water Co. for P1.02 billion.

AP Securities said taking control of these water companies would further consolidate SMC’s control over the province of Bulacan.

SMC is currently building an airport and an adjacent “Aerocity” in the municipality of Bulakan, as well as the MRT-7 line, which will connect North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

SMC is also in talks to merge its toll road units with Metro Pacific’s NLEX, which traverses the province.

MWC intends to use the proceeds to fund other strategic initiatives in areas outside its core East Zone concession. The transaction would increase MVP’s cash pile by around 13 percent and would go a long way towards funding the P3-billion to P4-billion capex requirements for projects outside of its Manila East Zone concession, or the non-East Zone Philippines (NEZ-PH) projects.

Bulakan and Obando water services billed a combined 2.5 million cubic meters (mcm) in the first half, which is a very small fraction of NEZ-PH’s total billed volume of 60.1 mcm for the period. The two areas’ combined billed connections of 24,617 households is likewise a small percentage of NEZ-PH’s total billed connections of 293,384 households.

Geothermal exports? Why not

Taiwan is keenly considering importing green energy from the Philippines, sourced particularly from geothermal fields that abound in the country.

The proposal was raised during legislative discussions, where Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Minister Kuo Jyh-huei proposed buying green power from the Philippines and shipping it to Taiwan.

The proposal, based on the transcript of the proceedings, did not sit well with the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Taiwan People’s Party.

TPP heavyweight Huang Kuo-chang complained that Kuo wanted to draw public attention away from Taiwan’s troubled renewable energy ratio.

Kuo said the idea of a mutual supply of green power had been suggested by friendly countries in the Southeast Asian region. In January, business leaders from the region, hosted by the World Economic Forum, called for a common power infrastructure in a joint “Shared Aspirations” statement.

It proposed accelerating “the region’s energy transition to deliver an equitable, secure and sustainable energy future while bolstering socioeconomic development.”