Aboitiz power investments reach P125-B

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: May 26, 2013 
After firming up its 300-megawatt coal-fired project in Cebu, the investments of Aboitiz group for power projects will climb to P125 billion over five years from an earlier target of P85 billion.
In a briefing with reporters, Aboitiz Power president and chief executive officer Erramon I. Aboitiz disclosed that the Cebu project will command investment of $750 million.
“As far as our power investments are concerned, what we have in the next five years, together with our partners is P190 billion…our share would be a P125 billion,” he stressed.
Within that half-decade stretch of development, the company is also targeting to bring to commercial operations some 150 megawatts of small run-of-river hydro projects to be undertaken by subsidiary Hedcor Inc.
By then, according to the company’s chief executive, “that should increase our attributable capacity by about 50-percent to bring it to 3,500 megawatts.” The company’s current attributable capacity is close to 2,400 megawatts.
For the Cebu project, the Aboitiz group is targeting to issue notice to proceed to the turnkey contractor by the end of this year to reach commercial operation by latter part of 2016.
“We are developing a 300-MW power plant in Cebu for Therma Visayas … we are going through studies to make sure that the site and the size are right, and we’re doing local consultations, so that’s going on,” he said.
Onward, the other power projects that will shore up the firm’s growing capacity will be the 400-MW expansion of the Pagbilao coal-fired plant in Quezon; as well as the proposed 600-MW Subic power project.
The Pagbilao project is in partnership with the existing plant operator TeaM Energy Philippines; while the Subic plant will be undertaken under corporate vehicle RP Energy with Meralco PowerGen and Taiwan Cogeneration Corporation.
“So over the next five years, that’s what we are expecting to come on stream,” Aboitiz added; emphasizing that in their original investment blueprint, the Therma Visayas plant was not yet included.
The Cebu project, he said, will be implemented on a project finance basis, which has been the typical design of all of the company’s power investments.
In this, the Aboitiz firm will assume 25 to 30-percent equity; while the balance of 70 to 75 percent of project cost will be raised via the capital markets latching on to prospective revenue stream from the project.   source