By Alena Mae S. Flores

Bronze Oak Philippines plans to construct two bio-ethanol plants with a combined capacity of 75 million liters annually in Bukidnon and Tarlac, the company said.

Bronze Oak said in its Web site that the South Bukidnon bio-ethanol facility is located in Barangay Labuagon in Kibawe, South Bukidnon, while the other will be built on Capas, Tarlac. The two facilities will start commercial operations in the next two years.

Bronze Oak said the Capas project was set to commence construction in the third quarter of this year.

Company officials could not be reached for comment but Energy Department director Mario Marasigan confirmed that the company was looking at constructing two ethanol plants.

Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is a type of alternative fuel being groomed to substitute traditional, oil-based fuels like gasoline and diesel.

The two ethanol plants are co-generation facilities which have the capability to produce power. The plants will require 21,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation to ensure sustainability of operations.

The South Bukidnon facility, which has a capacity of 45 million liters annually, is estimated to cost P4 billion. The Board of Investments has granted tax incentives to the project.

The capacity of the Capas ethanol plant is slightly lower than the South Bukidnon plant at 30 million liters.

Bronze Oak owns a stake in San Carlos Bioenergy Inc., which operates an ethanol distillery and power cogeneration plant in Negros Occidental.

The plant is now operational and is capable of producing 30 million liters of ethanol annually and approximately 8 megawatts of power. It sells its ethanol production to Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil refiner.

Bronzeoak Philippines is jointly owned by Bronzeoak Ltd. of the UK and Zabaleta & Company, a private family-owned corporation.

The company was established in 2003 to develop biomass and new renewable energy projects in the Philippines.