PHINMA Energy name change approved by SEC
BusinessWorld Online
By Victor V. Saulon
August 24, 2016
The listed company received the approval on Aug. 22, 2016 from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or about four months after its majority shareholders approved the change in name during the annual meeting on April 12, 2016.
Phinma Energy said the rename “captures the essence” of the its business, which initially started with embedded generation facilities that answered the needs of the cement plants under Philippine Investment Management, Inc., or the Phinma group.
The business expanded to serve the power needs of other large-scale and industrial customers, which include La Farge Holcim Cement, Republic Cement and Building Materials Corp., Cavite Economic Zone, Direct Power Services, Inc., Manila Water Corp. and Universal Robina Corp.
“The power business of Trans-Asia began with bunker-fired diesel generator plants. Over the years, the company expanded its power portfolio, expanding into other sources of power, in order to supply its customers with a reliable and affordable mix of electricity,” Phinma Energy said. • Victor V. Saulon
The expansion required strategic investments in power projects “to bulk up its generation capacity,” it added.
Phinma Energy’s subsidiary power plants are held in Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp., CIP II Power Corp., One Subic Power Generation Corp., and a company-owned power plant in Guimaras province.
Trans-Asia Power handles the 21-megawatt (MW) plant in Bacnotan, La Union while One Subic Power operates the 116MW plan in the Subic freeport zone. The plant in Jordan, Guimaras has 3.4 MW in capacity.
“Strategic partnerships have also played a key role in the expansion of Trans-Asia,” Phinma Energy said, referring to South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp., the joint venture with Ayala Corp.’s AC Energy Holdings, Inc.
The partners built a two-unit circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant each with a capacity of 135 MW. The first unit of the Calaca, Batangas plant started operating last year, with the second one projected to be online within 2016.
Trans-Asia also partnered with Petrogreen Energy Corp. and PNOC Renewables Corp. in consortium Maibarara Geothermal, Inc., whose expansion will deliver 12-MW of power by next year. The company has a 25% stake in the geothermal project.
The company has also ventured in wind energy through subsidiary Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp., which operates the 54-MW San Lorenzo wind farm in Guimaras.
Phinma Energy said another unit, Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp. “will continue to pursue the bulk of energy resource exploration and development for the company, as a separately listed entity” since it went public in 2014. — Victor V. Saulon