RP eyed as base in manufacture of P2-B waste-to-energy turbines

MACKAY Holdings Inc., a Scottish firm, plans to initially invest $50 million (P2.35 billion) to build, possibly at the Subic Bay Free Port Zone, two to three factories to manufacture turbines that turn waste to energy.

“There’s a huge demand for these types of technology,” chairman and founder James Ronaldson Mackay said on Tuesday.

He said his firm planned to export the turbines, which can convert 300 tons of solid waste into 150 tons of fuel pellets, to China and the Middle East.

Executives from the Middle East are also coming in to sign a $44.4-million contract to purchase the technology, he said.

Terry Brown, president and chief executive of subsidiary Mackay Green Energy Inc., said they also signed three joint-venture contracts on Tuesday. One of these contracts, for a 2-megawatt turbine, is worth $4.8 million.

Brown and Mackay said they were not worried about the supply of solid waste that a 250-kilowatt-hour (kWh) unit will burn at 1,900 degrees Centigrade.

They estimated that Metro Manila alone produces 10,000 tons of solid waste a day.

He said the first turbine manufactured in the Philippines is expected to be finished by early or mid-October this year.

“Between now and October, we’re qualifying the contractors and subcontractors for the plants,” Brown said.

He said a 250-kWh turbine, the smallest unit, could power 1,200 rural homes.

“It’s portable and can be placed anywhere.”

Mackay said the equipment would be sold mainly to cooperatives or local power distributors.

He said they already signed a 25-year joint-venture contract with the Baguio City government to install one machine.

The turbine may need replacement after 15 years, Mackay said.

He estimates the global green-energy market is valued at $48 billion.

Mackay Holdings has interests in the property, green energy, construction plant and equipment services, and life-sciences business. Written by Dennis D. Estopace / businessmirror.com.ph Reporter