Pertamina, a global LNG player and the third-largest crude oil producer in Indonesia, is studying the viability of setting up an LNG-powered generation facility to address the energy challenges in Tawi-tawi and to jump start the proposed self-generating industrial park (SGIP) in an off-grid island.
This was announced by Tereso O. Panga, director-general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), following its collaboration with the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) and the Department of Energy to explore the development of the SGIP in off grid areas in Visayas and Mindanao.
The PNOC-coined SGIP is akin to PEZA’s Renewable Energy Park (REP) model that generates its own energy inside the zone.
Already, PEZA and PNOC have teamed up in evaluating the government-initiated SGIP in Tawi-Tawi. He said the provincial government—together with the host municipalities, national and regional government offices, BARMM officials, local and foreign investors, and other stakeholders—have all expressed their full support for the project.
PEZA can support this strategy through the establishment of an ecozone that is self-sufficient/self-sustaining in terms of basic utilities such as power and water— both are essential components in the manufacturing process of a finished product.
PEZA is assisting the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
with capacity building and training for the establishment of more ecozones in Tawi-Tawi and other provinces within its jurisdiction.
Part of the plan is an Aqua-Marine park model to allow for mariculture, marine energy generation, and hydrogen/oxygen production (for refueling of marine vessels given Tawi-Tawi’s strategic location as a transshipment hub in the region).
Mariculture is most promising as it involves the farming of marine organisms for food and other products such as pharmaceuticals, food additives, dietary supplements, animal feed, cosmetics, jewelry (e.g., cultured pearls), etc.
Tawi-Tawi is known as the “Seaweed Capital of the Philippines” because it is the country’s top producer of seaweed. It’s also known as the “Carrageenan Capital of the World”. (Search Labs). Through the aqua-marine park, the integrated processing of seaweed and other aquatic resources can now be done in Tawi-Tawi. This will also attract our ecozone locators into processing of carrageenan and other global investors to set up facilities in Tawi-Tawi.
“The province is ripe for becoming the next frontier in ecozone development and as a prime investment destination in the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area),” said Panga.
