AES Philippines signs power supply deals

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine unit of US-based energy giant AES Corp. has signed power supply deals with seven electric cooperatives (ECs) in Northern Luzon to cover their baseload power requirements for the next 20 years.

In a statement, AES Philippines said it signed power supply agreements with seven electric cooperatives from Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (the R1+CAR ECs).

It said the aggregated capacity of 92 megawatts (MW) would be supplied from the 300-MW expansion of the Masinloc Power Plant in Zambales.

The R1+CAR ECs is composed of Abra Electric Cooperative Inc., Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, Ilocos Sur Electric Cooperative, Kalinga Electric Cooperative, La Union Electric Cooperative, Mountain Province Electric Cooperative Inc. and the Pangasinan III Electric Cooperative.

AES Philippines is currently working on the 600-MW expansion of its 630-MW Masinloc coal-fired power plant.

It said the 300-MW expansion of the Masinloc Power Plant has secured all key permits to start construction and discussions are underway with lenders and engineering, procurement and construction contractors.

Commissioning of the expansion plant is expected in 2019 to meet power supply obligations.

In 2014, the R1+CAR ECs decided to aggregate their requirements and conduct a competitive selection process to source power from a new facility, where AES Philippines emerged as the winner by providing the most competitive long-term rate from the planned expansion of its Masinloc plant.

Egdon A. Sabio, General Manager of ISECO and president of the Region 1 Electric Cooperatives Association, said the group pursued aggregation to effectively secure least-cost electricity supply for its customers.