SN Aboitiz Power, a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corp., has partially resumed operation of the decommissioned Ambuklao hydroelectric power plant in Benguet province and started offering the output to the spot market Wednesday.
SN Aboitiz president and chief executive Emmanuel Rubio said in a press briefing that one generating unit Ambuklao went online on June 1 and started trading in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market after a 12-year shutdown.
“Ambuklao unit 3 was officially registered as a member of WESM, signifying its commercial operation. We see the role of Ambuklao to be both an energy and ancillary services provider, which are both needed by the grid,” Rubio said.
Early in May, Ambuklao’s unit 3 underwent a successful rotation and synchronization to the Luzon grid. Now, the entire 35-megawatt capacity of the power plant is now being traded in the spot market, resulting in an expected drop in the price of electricity in Luzon.
“When you increase the supply, expectedly, the price will drop,” Rubio said.
The rehabilitation of Ambuklao, which started in December 2008, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of the year and boost the capacity of the Luzon grid by 70 MW.
The total capacity of the plant was upgraded from 75 MW to 105 MW. Rubio said there was no more room for further expansion of its capacity.
Rubio said SN Aboitiz constructed a new intake, headrace and penstock, elevated the tailrace tunnel outlet, de-silted tailrace tunnel and replaced electro-mechanical components.
The rehabilitation of Ambuklao required $170 million in capital and was funded by 70-percent debt and 30-percent equity.
The combined rehabilitation budget for both Ambuklao and Binga plants is approximately $280 million.
Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. turned over the ownership of the 175-megawatt Ambuklao and Binga hydroelectric power plants to SN Aboitiz in July 2008 after offering the highest bid of $325 million.
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