Rural energy development

The National Electrical Administration (NEA) and the Farm Systems Development Corporation (FSDC) will implement the project. Under the first component, funds will be provided to procure boilers, turbo-generators, and control systems for three 5 MW wood-fired power plants to be built in Visaya and to hire the services of a U.S. architectural and engineering consultant and a U.S. building contractor. Each site will also include a tree farm operated by tree farmer associations. Under the second component, credit will be provided to purchase up to 1,150 gasifier units (i.e., equipment that produces combustible gas by burning wood) which will replace diesel-powered irrigation pumps, and to develop approximately 500 woodlots to produce wood chips to feed the gasifiers. Finally, under the third component, credit will be provided to develop 19,500 ha of tree farms to grow feedstock for charcoal production and to construct the kilns needed for charcoal manufacture.