Malaya thermal plant starts full operation

MANILA, Philippines - The 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya thermal power plant started delivering power to the Luzon grid at full capacity on Aug. 31, following the completed rehabilitation of the plant’s unit 1, an official said yesterday.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp., the government corporation tasked to privatize state-owned power assets, said the plant was resynchronized to the grid on Aug. 26.

“Malaya power unit 1, which underwent overhauling, has been finally reconnected to the main grid. With the two units operational, the plant now has more available capacity as it assumes its role as a security plant,” PSALM officer-in-charge Lourdes Alzona said.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines yesterday projected that the Luzon grid now has a system capacity of 10,194 MW, with a system peak of 8,164 MW. Power reserve is at 2,048 MW.

STX Marine Services Co. Ltd., the operator of the Malaya TPP, undertook the overhauling of unit 1.

This included the overhauling of the unit’s turbine and generator, circulating water pump, distributed control system and generator AVR excitation system.