Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) President and Chief Executive Officer Rafael Consing Jr. believes that a probable investment by the sovereign fund into the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will be profitable, as well as bring stability to the grid and power communities across the country.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (Photo by Mark Balmores/MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ “The Source” on Monday, Jan. 8, the official dismissed concerns against the proposal of House Speaker Martin Romualdez for the MIC to invest in the national grid, and stressed that the NGCP is a “profitable organization” though it needs more capital for an expansion.
“I think that there is capital out there for them to be able to deploy but I don’t think it is enough, and that’s basically where we can come in and provide support,” he said.
Consing stressed that the NGCP needs an influx of capital for two reasons: first, to create stability in the grid because of the amount of renewable energy coming in; and second, to improve the NGCP’s overall rate efficiency.
“Kinokonekta pa lang natin ngayon ‘yung buong Pilipinas, so iyong kombinasyon ng kapital na kailangan para ikonekta ang buong Pilipinas ng grid at ikalawa, ‘yung (We are still collecting now for the whole Philippines, so the combination of capital that we need to connect the whole Philippines to the grid and second, the) power to be able to create stability in the grid,” Consing explained.
“The combination of that is actually quite a significant amount of capital that’s required,” he added.
But Consing disclosed that the “numbers have to be studied thoroughly” and that they “have not yet started talks with NGCP.”
The Maharlika chief also said that it might take nine months to a year before a transaction is finalized.
Earlier, Consing said that boosting the capacity of NGCP will lower energy costs and transform it into a more reliable and resilient grid to power communities.
This came as the grid corporation is being blamed for the massive power outages in Western Visayas last week.
The MIC is set to receive P62.5 billion of its P125 billion capital by the end of March, while the balance is expected to be completed throughout the year.