MANILA, Philippines - First Gen Corp.’s plan for the delayed San Gabriel gas-fired power plant is still hinged on the availability of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The listed power generation firm of the Lopez Group is keen on importing LNG to fuel its power plants after Malampaya’s reserves are depleted, an executive said.
“For me, is it more of gas availability,” said First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles B. Puno.
Puno said First Gen is in talks with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Malampaya consortium and operator Philippines Exploration B.V. on the presence of more natural gas in the project.
However, Puno said “it is really uncertain what they want to do with excess whether they are going bid it out or enter into an agreement with them.”
The Malampaya gas-to-power project in northwest Palawan fuels three power plants with a combined capacity of 2,700 megawatts (MW), equivalent to about 36 percent of Luzon’s power generation requirements.
In 2005, First Gen secured an environmental permit to build the $400-million, 550-MW San Gabriel gas-fired power plant in Batangas.
First Gen is geared towards investing more in power generation but the project might be constrained by the supply of its fuel natural gas, Puno said.
Puno said “we ourselves will study potentially bringing in LNG.”
The license for Service Contract 38 that allows the exploration of the Malampaya gas field, which fuels subsidiary First Gas’ 1,000-MW Santa Rita combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas power plant in Batangas, will expire in 2024.
But by 2017, output of the Malampaya is expected to decline.
“The plants can last beyond the contract term. What will happen is that at the end of the day, either we have to be certain that there is more gas in Malampaya or maybe five years before expiration period, we should have already contracted for a replacement gas,” Puno said, adding that the replacement fuel requires a new LNG supply through the Recto bank or other sources.
The DOE is planning to build a gas pipeline from Batangas all the way to Subic in Zambales. It will also include an integrated Bataan liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and several LNG-fired power plants.
Phase 1 involves the construction of a $200-million Batangas-Manila gas pipeline, which will be owned and operated by the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co.-Pipeline Corp. The LNG receiving terminal will handle imported LNG that will be distributed to industrial consumers through the pipeline.
First Gen will sell P10 billion worth of preferred shares this week to finance its acquisitions and general working capital. source
The listed power generation firm of the Lopez Group is keen on importing LNG to fuel its power plants after Malampaya’s reserves are depleted, an executive said.
“For me, is it more of gas availability,” said First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles B. Puno.
Puno said First Gen is in talks with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Malampaya consortium and operator Philippines Exploration B.V. on the presence of more natural gas in the project.
However, Puno said “it is really uncertain what they want to do with excess whether they are going bid it out or enter into an agreement with them.”
The Malampaya gas-to-power project in northwest Palawan fuels three power plants with a combined capacity of 2,700 megawatts (MW), equivalent to about 36 percent of Luzon’s power generation requirements.
In 2005, First Gen secured an environmental permit to build the $400-million, 550-MW San Gabriel gas-fired power plant in Batangas.
First Gen is geared towards investing more in power generation but the project might be constrained by the supply of its fuel natural gas, Puno said.
The license for Service Contract 38 that allows the exploration of the Malampaya gas field, which fuels subsidiary First Gas’ 1,000-MW Santa Rita combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas power plant in Batangas, will expire in 2024.
But by 2017, output of the Malampaya is expected to decline.
“The plants can last beyond the contract term. What will happen is that at the end of the day, either we have to be certain that there is more gas in Malampaya or maybe five years before expiration period, we should have already contracted for a replacement gas,” Puno said, adding that the replacement fuel requires a new LNG supply through the Recto bank or other sources.
The DOE is planning to build a gas pipeline from Batangas all the way to Subic in Zambales. It will also include an integrated Bataan liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and several LNG-fired power plants.
Phase 1 involves the construction of a $200-million Batangas-Manila gas pipeline, which will be owned and operated by the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co.-Pipeline Corp. The LNG receiving terminal will handle imported LNG that will be distributed to industrial consumers through the pipeline.
First Gen will sell P10 billion worth of preferred shares this week to finance its acquisitions and general working capital. source
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