International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Government of Canada and the Clean Technology Fund will provide $161m to build three biomass power plants in the Philippines.
The biomass power plants will be built in Negros Occidental, the Visayan island with a combined power generation capacity of 70MW.
Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna said: “We are pleased to support innovative projects abroad that help reduce global greenhouse gases.
“Through our partnership with the IFC, the Government of Canada will deliver funds that will enable the growth of renewable energy while supporting the creation of green jobs.”
Planned to be built in the towns of Manapla, San Carlos and La Carlota, they will generate electricity from sugarcane waste using a low carbon-emitting process called circulating fluidized bed boiler technology.
The plants will not only generate clean renewable energy but also help in reducing air pollution as currently sugarcane waste is burned in the fields.
IFC country manager Yuan Xu said: “Energy is central to the country’s development, and the Philippines needs to further diversify and secure its energy sources.
“Converting agricultural waste to biomass power is a sustainable way of creating economic value while caring for the environment.”
ThomasLloyd CTI Asia Holdings is the principal financial sponsor for the project and WBE (Hong Kong) International Green Energy and Bronzeoak Philippines are share holders of the projects.
Bronzeoak Philippines CEO Jose Maria Zabaleta said: “This funding will help utilize agricultural waste to generate reliable base load power, providing additional income to farmers, reducing fertilizer costs, and helping contribute to a healthful ecology.”
WBE (Hong Kong) International Green Energy will provide engineering and construction services to the projects.
After construction, the three plants are expected to qualify for the biomass feed-in-tariff of the Philippine Energy Regulatory Commission.