SMEC plans 600-MW Sual expansion

Manila Bulletin

By MYRNA M. VELASCO

July 14, 2011, 2:27am

MANILA, Philippines — The operator of the 1,200-megawatt Sual coal-fired power facility has been drawing up the feasibility study that shall merit the plant’s capacity expansion by 400 to 600 megawatts and this is one thing that San Miguel Energy Corporation (SMEC) has been throwing its support on.

In an interview with reporters, San Miguel president Ramon S. Ang indicated that they are “always open to entertaining proposals from groups,” and prime consideration will likely be given to its partner in the Sual asset.

San Miguel is the appointed independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for the Sual plant, while Japanese joint venture firm TeaM Energy Philippines is the operator of the asset.

Of the total capacity, 1,000-MW is under the power supply contract which has been placed under San Miguel’s domain as IPPA; while the excess of 235-MW is an attributable capacity to TeaM Energy.

Part of the feasibility study which is targeted for completion by September this year, according to TeaM Energy president Federico E. Puno, will be on grid accommodation concerns once the Sual plant’s capacity is expanded.

Puno added that the timing of the expansion must be hinged on the entry of capacity of the other investors of which projects are already firmly committed at this point.

On San Miguel’s part, aside from the prospective capacity expansion for Sual, the company will also be preoccupying itself with its coal mining ventures in Mindanao.

Ang is not giving figures on the volume yet that they would be able to extract from their coal mines, but he said, it could meet a significant part of the fuel requirements for their proposed mine-mouth power facilities in Mindanao.

The initial phase of the planned coal plants, according to the company chief executive, will likely start next year. The configuration previously set out by San Miguel would be 150 to 300 megawatts per phase.

Of the 20 million tonnes annual coal requirement of the country, Ang noted that their anticipated production would likely take a sizeable fraction of that. The calorific value of the coal reserves from the Mindanao mines, he said, would be highly feasible for utilization at the proposed coal plants in the country.