GT Capital eyes investment in geothermal and biomass power plants

GT Capital Holdings Inc. is looking at investing in geothermal and biomass power plants, its top official said in a press briefing on Thursday.

"We're now looking into biomass, we're looking into opportunities in geothermal, so expanding into other technologies in power also in terms of geography perhaps Luzon or Mindanao," GT Capital president Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista told a press briefing on Thursday.

In an interview with reporters, he said the company is "seriously considering" the said investment but that a final decision will be made next year.

GT Capital, through its subsidiary Global Business Power, currently operates coal- and bunker-fuelled power plants with a total capacity of 662 megawatts.

It has a newly-completed 82-MW plant and recently broke ground for a 150-MW plant that will be completed in 2016.

Bautista said the holding company's "next frontier" will also include transportation and infrastructure.

"We believe there are also synergies with the rest of the companies and products we have in the portfolio," he said.

GT Capital bought bid documents for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 operation and maintenance project, a public private partnership (PPP) project.

"The interesting component of that project is the extensions to the east, to Antipolo... you would expect ridership to improve, if ridership improve the property side on the station will improve," he explained.

The Department of Transportation and Communications has said the LRT 2 project includes the planned 4.19 kilometer Masinag extension with two additional stations.

Asked if the company is planning to acquire properties in the Antipolo area, he said: "If it makes sense you would... if it's along the line."

It also bought bid documents for the P122.8-billion PPP Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project.

Bautista said the company is also looking at opportunities in the property development.

He said there are now opportunities in horizontal residential projects. — JDS, GMA News