KALTIMEX Rural Energy Corp. (KREC), a Philippine subsidiary of Indonesian firm PT. Kaltimex Energy, is expanding its power supply operations in the island province of Tawi-Tawi through a P75.55-million investment on its off-grid plant.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Regional Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOI) said it approved the project on Dec. 9, which will be able to avail of tax holiday and lower tariffs for imported capital equipment.
KREC, registered in the region since 2016, has an eight-megawatt diesel power plant located in Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi.
BBOI said the expansion project could generate direct or indirect employment of 48 workers.
“We hope that this… could influence more investors of energy to put up their investments in BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” BBOI Chair Mohammad Omar Pasigan said.
Kaltimex Energy launched its rural electrification business in 2001 with diesel and gas power plants. It has also started developing renewable energy projects using biogas, biomass, and solid waste, among others.
Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost island province in the Philippines, had also recently been the recipient of a hybrid power plant project led by the Mindanao Development Authority, European Union and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
The project, providing 24/7 electrification in the island tows of Sibutu and Sitangkai in Tawi-Tawi, is part of a renewable energy initiative in support of the province’s seaweed industry.
About 15,000 seaweed farmers and residents of the two islands benefit from the P225.5-million energy project. — MSJ