Meralco, Aboitiz team up with TCC for Subic project

WHOLLY-owned subsidiaries of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), AboitizPower and Taiwan Cogeneration Corp. (TCC) recently signed a shareholders’ agreement formalizing the entry of Meralco subsidiary PowerGen Corp. (MPGC) into the capital stock of RP Energy.

RP Energy is the company that will develop a coal-fired plant at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales.

With the agreement, MPGC becomes controlling shareholder of RP Energy with 50 percent plus two shares, while AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Power (TPI) and TCC subsidiary Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. Philippine Branch, own the remaining shares in equal proportion.

Signatories of the agreement were MPGC President Oscar Reyes, EVP and General Manager Aaron Domingo, TPI President Antonio Moraza, TCIC Director Brian Hsu, and RP Energy President Erramon Aboitiz.

Competitive rates

The signed the agreement at the Lighthouse Marina in Subic Bay.

RP Energy owns the development rights and assets of the 600-megawatt circulating fluidized bed clean coal-fired power plant to be built at the Redondo Peninsula.

“Meralco’s entry into power generation is part of an overall strategy to ensure that our customers obtain efficient, reliable and adequate electricity at competitive rates. This investment is timely, given growing concerns about the availability of sufficient power supply in the coming years,” said Meralco president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Aboitiz said the partnership will give the company “the opportunity to bring in competitive and technologically advanced power generation to the country.”

The total budget for the project is about US$1 to $1.28 billion, and it will employ about 150 once fully operational. The first unit is expected to come on-stream in 2014, just in time for when the Department of Energy expects the Luzon grid to be in need of new baseload generation capacity.

The second unit is slated to be completed after 6-9 months in 2015. RP Energy will negotiate a power sales agreement with Meralco for electricity generated from the power plant and approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission. (PR)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 06, 2011.