Luzon grid to get additional capacity

MANILA, Philippines — The Luzon grid will get an additional capacity as the 420-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant expansion of the AboitizPower Corp. and TeaM Energy Corp. in Quezon province is expected to start running before end-2017.

AboitizPower president and COO Antonio Moraza said the commissioning of the power plant is going smoothly as it already has reached full capacity.

“It’s still commissioning but we already hit the 420 MW,” he said, noting the project’s testing and commissioning is estimated to take two to three months.

The joint venture is hopeful the power plant would be ready to start commercial operations before the year ends, Moraza said.

AboitizPower has already fully contracted its share of capacity but expects to fully contract the whole plant’s capacity before it starts running, the company executive said.

AboitizPower and TeaM Energy have invested close to $1 billion for the expansion of their existing coal-fired power plant in Quezon province by more than half of its existing capacity.

The project is being undertaken by Pagbilao Energy Corp. (PEC), a joint venture between TPEC Holdings Corp. and Therma Power Inc. – wholly owned subsidiaries of TeaM Energy and the Aboitiz Group, respectively.

AboitizPower serves as the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) of the 735-MW Pagbilao coal-fired power plant while TeaM Energy operates the facility.

PEC has tapped Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd. and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors for the project.

Last June, AboitizPower issued P3 billion from its planned P30 billion fixed-rate retail bonds to finance ongoing projects including the Pagbilao plant expansion.

Apart from the Quezon plant, AboitizPower is looking to complete the 69-MW Manolo Fortich hydropower plant in Bukidnon, the 8.5-MW Maris Canal hydro project in Isabela through its subsidiary SN AboitizPower and the 340-MW Therma Visayas baseload power plant in Toledo, Cebu.

Once completed, the five projects will add a combined total capacity of 828.3 MW to AboitizPower’s portfolio, which is targeted to reach 4,000 MW by 2020.

Currently, the group has a net sellable capacity of 3,955 MW.