Meralco unit offers contract to build Subic coal-fired power plant

posted January 05, 2016 at 11:20 pm by Alena Mae S. Flores

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/196053/meralco-unit-offers-contract-to-build-subic-coal-fired-power-plant-.html

Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., a unit of Manila Electric Co., has started the tender process on the engineering, procurement and construction contract for its planned coal-fired power plant in Subic, Zambales.

“We’re negotiating with the EPC contractors and looking at both the 300-MW and 600-MW options,” Meralco chief finance officer Betty Siy-Yap said.

Meralco PowerGen Corp, the power generation unit of Meralco, owns a majority stake in RP Energy.

RP Energy is studying whether to develop a 300-MW or a 600-MW coal project at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, depending on transmission line constraints.

Siy-Yap did not disclose the identity of the EPC contractors pending the tender process.

She said the Meralco group planned to raise funds to finance the project construction and had not determined the amount pending the finalization of the EPC tender bidding.

“We’re looking at financing for RP Energy but we will know the amount only after we’ve tendered the EPC contract,” the official said.

Meralco PowerGen is supposed to start construction of the long-delayed power project last year following a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court. It faced new delays because of the transmission line and right-of-way constraints.

The company has already invested around P1 billion for the civil works of the project.

The Supreme Court dismissed the Writ of Kalikasan case filed by pro-environmentalist groups against the Subic coal plant and upheld the project’s environmental compliance certificate as well as its lease and development agreement with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Other shareholders of RP Energy are Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp.

The company is working with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for the transmission line requirements of the plant.

The terms of the project financing agreement are expected to be finalized by the first quarter, with construction to follow. Project completion is expected by 2019.