Aboitiz Power to double capacity by 2011

MANILA, Philippines - Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) expects to double its generating capacity to 1,161 megawatts (MW) from the current 578 MW by 2011, the company said.

In a prospectus submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, APC said the aggressive acquisitions of National Power Corp. (Napocor) assets would account for the increase in power output. 

APC is currently expanding and rehabilitating newly-acquired power generating assets to serve as add-ons to its total capacity.

The company has also been putting up several greenfield projects all over the country.

For the next two years, APC is expecting the turnover of the 289-MW Tiwi/458-MW Makban geothermal facility in Laguna.

Upon closing of the Tiwi-Makban purchase, APC’s generation capacity will reach 1,040 MW, 77 percent of which are powered from renewable sources of energy.

Within the two-year period, the company is also looking at the completion of the rehabilitation and expansion of the 75-MW Ambuklao-Binga plant.

Once completed, the combined capacity is expected to expand by approximately 30 percent to 225 MW with combined annual generation of approximately 760 gigawatthours (gwh). 

Starting August 2009, the company’s 42.5-MW Sibulan hydroelectric project in Davao del Sur will come on stream. 

The project entails the construction of two cascading hydropower generating facilities tapping the Sibulan and Baroring rivers.

In the first quarter of 2010, APC is expected to put in commercial operation its 3x82-MW coal-fired power plant in Toledo City in Cebu.

In August 2007, APC and Vivant Energy Corp. of the Garcia Group signed a memorandum of agreement with Metrobank Group’s Global Business Power Corp. for the construction and operation of the coal-fired facility. APC will have an effective participation of 26.4 percent in the project.

The company said it continues to look at the power generation assets to be auctioned by the government.