Supercritical coal plant seen operational by end December
By Lenie Lectura – February 26, 2019
from Business Mirror
THE country’s first coal-fired power plant to use supercritical technology is 97-percent complete, with commercial operation set later this year.
San Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL), a partnership between Meralco PowerGen (MGen) and New Growth BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (Egco Group) of Thailand, is constructing a 500-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon.
Egco, in its management discussion analysis, said the construction of the project has progressed 97.38 percent and the commercial operation date is scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2019.
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. This project would bring in additional revenues to Meralco in 2020.
Of the plant’s capacity and energy, 455 MW are contracted to Meralco, pursuant to a power supply agreement extendable for up to an additional five years.
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 company tapped the consortium of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. as the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor for the project.
SBPL achieved financial close for the power project in December 2015 for a total debt of P42.1 billion.
SBPL also proposed to develop and construct a dedicated point-to-point facility, which will connect the coal plant to the Luzon grid through the Tayabas substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) by connecting to the existing Quezon Power Philippines Limited Co. connection asset, comprised of the Mauban substation and a 230-kilovolt transmission line.
This dedicated facility will cost P242,956,734. An application was filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last year for the construction of the transmission facility that will connect its plant to the Luzon grid.
