First Gen in discussion with government to jump-start LNG sector in PHL

by Lenie Lectura - October 17, 2016

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/first-gen-in-discussion-with-government-to-jump-start-lng-sector-in-phl/

FIRST Gen Corp. awaits a more detailed discussion with the government about plans to jump-start the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector in the country.

Company President and COO Giles Puno welcomed an earlier pronouncement of the Department of Energy (DOE) it was looking at building a 200-megawatt (MW) plant that runs on LNG. This, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said, would serve as a backup power facility that can be tapped in times of tight power supply.

“I think it’s positive, as long as it’s built then we are okay with it,” said Puno, who added that the DOE plan is a “grand opportunity for this administration to make it their legacy investment.”

“For me, it’s fantastic,” said Puno, referring to the DOE’s intention to build an LNG power facility.

The Lopez-led firm is also firming up a plan to build a $1-billion LNG terminal in Batangas. “Mas advance na kami. We have to have discussions with the government as to who will really build, what’s the most feasible arrangement, whether in Batangas or somewhere else,” Puno said.

Should the government opt to partner with First Gen, Puno said this is a welcome development for the power industry.

Shell Philippines also has plans to develop its own LNG terminal. Puno said the company “continues to have discussions with Shell.”

“We want to realize this project, because this is important for this country,” he said.

Also, First Gen is looking at supplying gas to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) from its San Gabriel power plant.

“We’re always in talks with Meralco. They came out with a competitive selection process [CSP]. So, we have to go through CSP.  They mentioned 300 MW purely mid-merit,” Puno said.

Meralco earlier said it was looking to contract up to 300 MW of midmerit capacity by the first half of 2017, which could be from gas or geothermal plants, as it already secured baseload capacity in the next few years.