MGen eyes 2 wind projects

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco Powergen Corp. (MGen), the power generation arm of Manila Electric Co., is exploring the development of two wind power projects with a combined capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) by next year as it charts its next move toward cleaner technologies.

MGen president and CEO Rogelio Singson said the company is looking at a list of new projects including wind, coal, solar and pump storage.

But in particular, they were asked to look at wind project proposals by parent firm Meralco.

“When the coal tax kicks in, wind will be competitive,” Singson said.

The company is looking at two wind projects, one in the north and the other close to the Meralco franchise area, MGen executive vice president and general manager Dan Neil said.

However, MGen will not pursue two projects at the same time.

“We are not the primary developer,” he said. “We are very hopeful early next year we will make an announcement, one project first.”

For solar, the group is studying possible investments especially with battery storage. But for now, solar investments are confined to those with off-take agreements with Meralco.

“But we think solar in the next five years will become more viable with energy storage,” Singson said.

Earlier, Singson announced MGen’s move toward cleaner technologies amid the shift in the country’s power industry from fossil fuel to low carbon emitting technologies.

He said renewables and liquefied natural gas (LNG) would have a strong play in the coming years and this has been discussed with the top management of Meralco and MGen.

For LNG, Meralco president Oscar Reyes said the group is willing and ready to be part of the government’s plan to develop the gas sector, whether through piped gas or LNG.

The Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC)-the Department of Energy’s corporate arm – has been tasked to put up an integrated LNG hub with storage, liquefaction, regassification and distribution facility, as well as a reserve initial power plant capacity of 200 MW.

In 2015, Meralco chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said they are looking at opportunities in the solar space by spinning off a new power generation subsidiary.

The group formed a subsidiary to hold its investments in solar called Spectrum to formally signal its entry into the renewable energy space. It is developing rooftop and utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to meet the requirements of commercial, industrial and residential customers.

So far, it has partnered with Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) to put up solar rooftop installations in the latter’s three to four malls across the country.

MGen is also co-developing with Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO) a 455-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon under San Buenaventura Power Limited Co. (SBPL), targeted for completion in mid-2019.

It is also working on a 2x300-MW circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant in Subic, Zambales. This is being done by Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy), a consortium composed of MGen, Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. The first 300 MW is targeted in 2020 and the second unit after one year.

The Meralco unit is also working solely on the 2x600-MW ultra supercritical coal-fired power plant in Atimonan, Quezon, with the first unit expected to be completed by 2021.

The firm also teamed up with Semirara Mining and Power Corp. to develop a 2x350-MW pulverized coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas under St. Raphael Power Generation Corp.