PNOC-Exploration plans power plants

Manila Standard Today
by Alena Mae S. Flores


State-owned PNOC-Exploration Corp. will pursue the construction of two 100-megawatt coal-fired power plants this year costing an estimated $400 million, a company official said over the weekend.


Joseph Omar Castillo, PNOC Exploration vice president, told reporters the company would select a joint venture partner for the mine-mouth power plants in Zamboanga Sibugay and Isabela provinces next year.


Castillo said the company would conduct a competitive bidding process and select the partner under the 2008 guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority.


“The power plants are at 100 MW each. It will be coal-fired from PNOC Exploration’s coal mines, the first in the country. It will reduce logistics cost of transporting coal. Isabela and Zamboanga Sibugay are underserved provinces and the plants will hopefully boost business climate and generate needed employment,” the official said.


PNOC Exploration chairman Gemiliano Lopez earlier said the company was pursuing coal and oil and gas projects and “play a decisive role in our country’s quest for energy independence and sustainability.”


“PNOC Exploration is keen to provide material support for the power plants in the province of Isabela and Zamboanga Sibugay. These power plants will improve the electricity generation in these underserved provinces,” Lopez said.


Castillo, meanwhile, PNOC Exploration would also focus next year on drilling service contract 63 (East Sabina) in partnership with Nido Petroluem Ltd. of Australia. The drilling is estimated to cost around P900 million.


“On SC 63, in partnership with Nido, we are choosing a drill prospect in the area, target time for drill is third quarter,” he said.


Castillo said the company expects first coal production from the Lumbog coal mine this year. The Lumbog area in Zamboanga Sibugay has an estimated mineable coal reserve of at least 1.4 million metric tons.


Engineering and development plans for the Lumbog area were completed in 2010 and development started last March.


Castillo said PNOC Exploration would also start the construction of compressed natural gas stations next year.


PNOC Exploration will initially construct a CNG station at the Philippine Port Authority in Batangas and refurbish the existing Shell daughter station in Mamplasan, Laguna at a cost of P100 million.


The CNG stations project aims to support deployment of 200 CNG-fed buses in Metro Manila as part of the government’s alternative fuels program.