May 30, 2018 | 12:02 am
MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGen)
targets renewable energy to account for at least 20% of its attributable
capacity in the coming years even as the company is looking at the coal-fired
power plants being sold by the Ayalas’ energy unit.
“Siguro (Maybe) in the next
three to four years at least 500-600 megawatts ang gusto naming i-develop
(are what we want to develop),” said Rogelio L. Singson, MGen president and
chief executive officer, told reporters.
“It (renewable energy) should be at
least 20-30% of the MGen capacity,” he added.
Mr. Singson said solar has a “very
strong potential in Luzon” amid a tighter window for coal-fired power plants.
The MGen CEO said he has looked at
some of the stranded solar farms that failed to make it to the government’s
feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme.
“They’re telling us, you want our
solar farm, we want to joint venture with you, what kind of PSA (power supply
agreement) can we expect. Tiningnan namin lahat ng ino-offer sa amin
(We’re looking at everything that’s offered to us),” he said, adding that the
benchmark rate for solar capacity is at P2.98 per kilowatt-hour.
“We’re hoping that battery will come
into play within the next five years. We’re seriously looking at the
development of battery,” he said.
Mr. Singson also said that MGen was
evaluating the coal-fired power plants being offered by AC Energy Holdings,
Inc.
Earlier this month, Ayala-led AC
Energy said it was looking for buyers for as much as half of its thermal energy
platform to raise capital to support the company’s regional growth and balance
its renewables and thermal portfolios.
“First of all, the assets being
disposed are coal and if we look at the market outlook, the window for coal is
very very tight,” Mr. Singson said, adding that the outlook for renewables is
becoming “very very strong.” — Victor V. Saulon
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