Thursday, May 31, 2012

Meralco seeks Subic incentives

Manila Standard Today
Posted  by Alena Mae S. Flores 


Meralco PowerGen Corp., the power generation arm of distributor Manila Electric Co., is seeking tax incentives from the Board of Investments for the planned 600-megawatt coal-fired power project at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Newly-appointed Meralco president and chief executive Oscar Reyes told reporters the Subic project was awaiting approval from the BoI.
“The Subic project is moving. We recently filed for our BoI registration with the proper endorsement from the DoE [Energy Department],” Reyes said.
The Subic project will utilize two single high-efficiency 300-MW units for a total net generating capacity of 600 MW.  The entire project is estimated to cost $1.28 billion.
BoI-approved projects are exempted from income tax, duty free importation of equipment, among others.
Reyes said Meralco PowerGen was also in discussions with transmission network operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to connect the power plant to the Luzon grid.
He said talks were ongoing with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority officials. Some residents and businessmen in Subic earlier raised opposition to the project.
“On certain matters SBMA raised with us, those are being addressed as well. We are in constant communication with NGCP, SBMA, with the other stakeholders in the area and DoE,” Reyes said.
Reyes said Meralco PowerGen was committed to bring the plant to commercial operations by 2015. “We are committed to bring this capacity onstream by 2015. I think that remains to be our target because Luzon grid clearly needs it,” he said.
Meralco PowerGen is the controlling shareholder of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., the project proponent of the 600-MW coal project.
Meralco PowerGen holds 50 percent plus two shares in RP Energy while Aboitiz-controlled Therma Power Inc. and the local unit of Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. hold the remaining shares in equal proportion.
Reyes said the company would stick to the traditional sources of fuel such as coal, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, hydro and wind for its power projects, but he ruled out nuclear energy “because it is something the whole world is still reviewing.”
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan earlier said that if the commercial and industrial sectors continued to post strong growth, power supply might be tight in the next two to three years.  He said in this scenario, Meralco would pursue its power generation projects to meet the anticipated increase in demand.
“We’re looking at a number of power projects and we’re conducting a feasibility on gas-fired plants,” Pangilinan said.
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/May/31)  source

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