First Gen switches on Avion gas-fired plant

MANILA, Philippines - First Gen Corp. has finally started the commercial operations of its 97-megawatt (MW) Avion natural-gas fired power plant in Batangas City after it has been cleared by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to start trading its output.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stocks Exchange (PSE) yesterday, First Gen said the PEMC has acknowledged the start of Avion’s participation in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. With this, Avion power plant’s output can now be offered and traded in the WESM.

“We are pleased to announce that Avion has finally achieved commercial operations. We likewise await the certificate of compliance (COC) for the 414-MW San Gabriel plant. These two plants will add much needed power supply to stabilize the grid,” First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said.

First Gen’s subsidiary, Prime Meridian Powergen Corp. (PMPC), received its certificate of compliance issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the Avion power plant last Sept. 7.

The power plant has been certified as a fast-start generator, and can immediately supply electricity during hours when power demand surges and there’s a supply shortage in the grid. It is located within the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Barangay Bolbok, Batangas City.

The plant was supposed to deliver power during the summer months of 2015.

However, the project faced delays after IstroenergoGroup (IEG) and its Philippine branch company Energy Project Completion Ltd. (EPC), contractors for turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction, failed to comply with their obligations.

Thus, PMPC terminated the contracts. Slovakian firm IEG was tapped in August 2014 to construct and commission the Avion plant.

Since then, the Avion plant has been undergoing commissioning and testing until the COC was issued.