Meralco Powergen Corp. (MGen) president and CEO Emmanuel “Manny” Rubio said they reached out to the controlling Consunji family when they learned that the coal concession of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. would be auctioned.
“We have expressed our interest in exploring this vertical integration opportunity for our thermal facilities. An obvious partner for us would be the current concession owner, as they have in-depth knowledge of the facility and we have long-standing relationships with the Consunjis in some of the group’s businesses,” Rubio said told InsiderPH.
He also pointed to the group’s ties with the Consunji Group, which is the second-largest investor in Maynilad Water Services behind Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments.
“Having some participation will provide us some fuel security,” Rubio explained.
Tycoon Isidro Consunji, Semirara chair, separately confirmed talks with Meralco.
Rubio said it was still earlyin the process and that they are moving to engage engineers for the due diligence process.
“It’s very early days. We’re still doing our own due diligence. We know we can burn the coal based on its calorific value alone, but we don’t yet have the full details of its composition," he said.
Calorific value refers to the amount of energy the coal produces when burned, but Meralco still needs to study its full composition—such as ash and sulfur content—to determine if it is suitable for its power plants.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
