Maibarara wants ERC okay to link facilities with Meralco

Business Mirror

17 Dec 2013 

 

Written by Lenie Lectura

MAIBARARA Geothermal Inc. (MGI) is seeking the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to develop, own and operate dedicated point-to-point facilities to connect to the distribution system of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

The project consists of the construction of 6-kilometer (km) 115-kilovolt (kV) line from the Maibarara Geothermal Power Plant (MGPP’s) switchyard to Meralco’s 115-kV line in Calamba City, Laguna. The proposed project is intended to allow the interconnection of the MGPP to the power retailer’s distribution system for the transmission of electricity generated by MGI. The two companies have already signed an interconnection agreement.

MGI is 65-percent owned by PetroGreen Energy Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroEnergy Resources Corp. TransAsia Oil and Energy Development Corp. and PNOC Renewables Corp. own 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of MGI.

MGI’s 20-megawatt (MW) MGPP is an integrated steamfield and power plant facility  in Santo Tomas, Batangas. It costs P3.44 billion.

In December last year, MGI signed an agreement with TransAsia and Meralco defining their respective rights and obligations, with MGI as owner and operator of the facility; TransAsia as the sole off-taker of MGI’s electricity output; and Meralco, as owner of the distribution system through which the plant will be interconnected and through which TransAsia, as wholesale aggregator, will sell the power output to consumers. 

The cost of the transmission line and switchyard is roughly about 3 percent of the total capital investment. “The cost of transmission line reflected in the total capital investment is based on a 6-km transmission line with a total estimated cost of P91,832,515,” said the ERC.

The energy regulatory, in its ruling, approved the application subject to some conditions. One such condition is for connection assets will be used by MGI and not directly to end-users.

Another is for MGI to undertake the necessary measures to ensure that its proposed interconnection will not result in the degradation of the distribution system. This will require the installation of a protection system that will automatically disconnect MGPP in the event of the occurrence of the system or generator faults or other unusual conditions that may cause voltage in the system.

MGI is also bound to transfer the ownership of the interconnection facilities at fair market price.

The ERC also required MGI to remit to the commission a total permit fee of P688,743.86.   source