Meralco seeks partners for coal power projects

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, is looking for partners for its coal projects in the pipeline.

The company has lined up three coal projects with a total generating capacity of 2,255 megawatts. These are the 455-MW coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon; a 600-MW coal-fired power plant in Subic and the 1,200-MW coal power plant in Atimonan, Quezon.

Meralco chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said for the Atimonan project, the company might take in a foreign partner.

“We might look for a foreign partner so long as Meralco still has the majority. It’s a big project – 1,200 MW. It will cost at least  $2 billion,” Pangilinan said.

He said the company is in talks with a number of interested parties who can partner with Meralco.

Meralco Power Gen (MGen), the power generation arm of Meralco, has partnered with several companies for its existing projects.

It has partnerered with New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO) of Thailand for the 455-MW coal-fired power plant project in Mauban, Quezon and with Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration for the 600-MW power project in Subic.

Meralco posted a consolidated reported net income of P18.1 billion last year or five percent higher than 2013’s figures.

Meralco officials attributed the increase in net income to higher electricity sales volume last year of 35,160 gigawatt-hours or three percent over 2013, due largely to the combined commercial and industrial volumes of Meralco and its subsidiary Clark Electric Distribution Corp. as well as to an increase in customer base by four percent to 5.6 million.