Local Kepco unit mulls expansion

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco), owner of three power generation facilities in the Philippines, is looking at expanding its portfolio.

The company is still keen on a 200-megawatt (MW) power plant in Subic, Zambales while training its eyes in the Visayas its top executive said.

“Kepco is still interested in putting up a power plant with Hanjin in the Philippines with planned location not yet determined,” Kyu-Byeng Hwang, president and CEO of Kepco Philippines Corp., told reporters.

Hwang said the project is pursuant to the memorandum of understanding signed between the Philippines and Korean government’s during the visit of Korean President Lee Myung Bak in November last year.

The $200-million to $400-million project, which will be built to cater to the electricity requirements of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. Philippines Inc. in the Subic Bay Economic Zone, has yet to proceed.

There were reportedly host community oppositions to the project.

Kepco Philippines is also interested to put up a power plant in the Visayas, Hwang said, without elaborating.

To date, Kepco Philippines owns the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas power plant and the 200-MW Cebu circulating fluidized bed combustion power plant in Naga, Cebu and has a stake in the 145.8-MW Naga power plant complex in Cebu.

Since its entry into the local power sector in 1995, Kepco Philippines now provides around 12 percent of the total installed generation capacity in the country.