Business World Online
Posted on November 21, 2011 10:27:16 PM
ABOITIZ POWER Corp. is still awaiting the final environmental clearance and quotations from suppliers for its Subic coal-fired power plant before closing financial agreements, an official told reporters yesterday.
“We are actually waiting to get the final environmental clearance and also the final quotations from our suppliers before we go to the banks.
The financing is still in process,” said Aboitiz Power Chief Executive Erramon I. Aboitiz in an interview on the sidelines of the Management Association of the Philippines Management Man of the Year awarding ceremonies.
The project is “going very well and we are beginning to understand the project a little bit more,” he said.
Aboitiz Power, along with joint venture partner Meralco PowerGen Corp., will build a 600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Subic which will consist of two 300-MW units. It will provide additional baseload power to the power grid.
The power plant is estimated to cost around $1.2 billion and is expected to be finished by 2014.
Earlier, five banks -- Bank of the Philippine Islands, Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., First Metro Investment Corp., Philippine National Bank, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. -- expressed interest in financing the project.
Mr. Aboitiz said the company was talking with people in the area about the project.
Earlier, several groups expressed opposition to the building of a coal-fired power plant in Subic, claiming the plant could have an impact on the area’s environment and tourist sites.
“There are people who want to understand the project a little bit more so we are explaining to them what additional capacity will mean as far as environmental issues are concerned. But I think it’s going very well,” said Mr. Aboitiz.
Aboitiz Power is also in the process of getting financing for a 300-MW coal-fired power plant in Davao.
The company said it was “anxiously waiting the privatization schedule of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.” and would bid for more government-owned power assets.
For the nine-month period ending September, consolidated net income of Aboitiz Power fell 12% to P16.2 billion from the P18.5 billion recorded last year due to the decline in the selling price of energy and a one-time loss from dollar-denominated loans.
Its core net income went down by 14% to P15.6 billion.
Aboitiz Power’s power generation operations logged a net income of P15.3 billion in the period ending September amid the “lower average selling price and net generation recorded for the period.”
Shares in Aboitiz Power remained unchanged at P29.70 a piece. -- Emilia Narni J. David
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