Construction of SBPL coal plant is 90% complete
By Lenie Lectura – August 22, 2018
from Business Mirror
THE construction of the country’s first coal-fired power plant to use supercritical technology is 90-percent complete.
“SBPL (San Buenaventura Power Ltd.) is on its 31st month of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) implementation with overall progress at almost 90 percent and is on track for project completion in September 2019,” said Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) President Rogelio Singson.
SBPL is a partnership between MGen and New Growth BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO Group) of Thailand. The project proponent is putting up a 455-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon.
Singson said, “Most major equipment is on site.”
The company tapped the consortium of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. as the EPC contractor for the project.
SBPL achieved financial close for the power project in December 2015 for a total debt of P42.1 billion.
The electricity to be generated by the plant will be sold to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility, under a 20-year power-supply agreement (PSA). Singson added this project would bring in additional revenues to Meralco in 2020.
The SBPL power plant will play a crucial role as electricity demand grows, especially in Luzon which accounts for about 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
The development of this project represents MGen and EGCO Group’s commitment to contribute in efforts to attain energy security, which will ultimately benefit the Philippine economy.
This is also aligned with MGen’s goal to have a power- generation portfolio of about 3,000 MW and significantly contribute to the growing demand for power.
SBPL has an Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved PSA for the entire 455-MW capacity.
SBPL earlier entered into an omnibus agreement with a consortium of reputable local banks to provide a P42.15-billion loan for the project. This is the biggest all-peso project finance facility in the country to date.
The senior-term loan lenders are BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Philippine National Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
BDO Unibank Trust and Investments Group served as the loan facility agent, while Metrobank Trust Banking Group acted as collateral trustee.
Meanwhile, BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. were appointed as joint bookrunners and joint issue coordinators. Together with Chinabank, PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp., they also acted as joint lead arrangers for the transaction.
