Meralco unit, Thai firm switch on Quezon plant

MANILA, Philippines — The joint venture of Meralco Powergen Corp. (MGen) and Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO) has switched on its 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Quezon.

The plant is touted as the country’s most advanced coal power plant and is Manila Electric Co.’s first majority-owned, commercially operating power plant since the company decided to return to the generation business.

During the inauguration yesterday, MGen president and chief executive officer Rogelio Singson said the project was finally completed five years after the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract was signed in October 2014.

“It has been that long ... which we finished, however, on budget and on schedule,” he said.

The power plant uses a high efficiency, low emissions (HELE) coal technology that allows the plant to operate at increasingly higher temperatures and pressures to reach higher efficiencies, while significantly reducing emissions.

This coal plant technology has been the choice for new commercial coal-fired plants in many countries across the world. As a pioneer of this technology, SBPL is setting the bar higher in operating coal plants in the Philippines.

In his keynote speech, Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the power project would help provide much needed power in country, most especially in Luzon.

“The Philippine electric power industry welcomes the entry of new and emerging innovations, such as this plant’s supercritical power generation technology, which produces more efficient power generation, while emitting less greenhouse gases,” he said.

The project will play a key role in the country’s drive toward progress, prosperity and global competitivenes, he added.