(The Philippine Star) | Updated November 23, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines –
Japan’s Marubeni Corp. is entering as a strategic partner in the Semirara
Mining and Power Corp.-Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) team-up for the
2x350-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas estimated to cost as
much as $1.4 billion, a Semirara official said.
In an interview with
reporters, Semirara chairman and CEO Isidro Consunji said Marubeni is just
waiting for head office clearance to formally take in a 20-percent equity in
St. Raphael Power Generation Corp., the project company for the coal-fired
plant.
“They are already our
partner in Maynilad. They are already adept in the country’s power industry and
they have shown serious interest (in the project),” Consunji said when asked
why they chose the Japanese firm as partner.
Semirara, MGen and
Marubeni have signed an agreement way back in April and asked for six months
before officially becoming part of the consortium. The Japanese firm, however,
asked for an additional 90 days for the finalization of its entry, DMCI
officials said.
Currently, the
Semirara-MGen team-up is finalizing the plant’s fuel characteristics necessary
in designing the plant, which will determine the total cost of the power plant.
The group is in talks
with US-based consultant Black & Veatch as contractor for the power
project.
St. Raphael will
utilize the subcritical pulverized coal technology, allowing it to use coal
produced in Semirara’s mines.
But even if the
partnerships and contractors are sealed, St. Raphael will have to wait for the
Energy Regulatory Commission’s go-signal before constructing the power plant,
Consunji said.
“We still have to wait
for the ERC permit on our PSA (power supply agreement) and its permit on NGCP
(National Grid Corp. of the Philippines) to put up a transmission line,” he
said.
Once approved, it will
be easy for the group to raise funds for the coal plant, Consunji said.
The new power plant
will be the second phase expansion of the Calaca power plant under Sem-Calaca
Power Corp., which has an initial capacity of 600 MW.
A new 2x150 MW power
plant under Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. was completed last year and
started commercial operations in February.
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