Published
By Myrna M. Velasco
The power generation
investment arm of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is changing the design
of its Redondo Peninsula Energy (RPE) coal-fired power project into a single
configuration of 600 megawatts (MW)instead of having two units at 300MW
capacity each.
This is being resorted
to by Meralco PowerGen after the project’s engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) contractor Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co.
Ltd. of South Korea opted out from their original deal.
“We’re opening the
possibility of going through a bigger size – it used to be 2x300MW. The reason
for that was, we’re waiting for the NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the
Philippines) substation. But now that it’s there, we don’t need to do a
2X300MW, so either we do 455 megawatts which is the same size as SBPL (San
Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. project) or do a one-by-600MW instead,” Meralco
PowerGen President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio L. Singson told
reporters in a press conference.
The equipment
utilization will also shift from previously sub-critical circulating fluidized
bed (CFB) boiler to an ultra-super critical (USC) technology.
On the EPC contract,
the company is similarly contemplating on undertaking a new round of bid
process – although at this point, Singson noted that their option is to give
leeway first to the original South Korean contractor to make an offer.
“We’re still asking if
the Koreans are interested,” he stressed; adding that in their contract cost
submission under the plant’s original design, the price difference had been
immense.
“They have submitted
and we felt the price will not make it (power plant project) viable… I don’t
have the exact numbers, but it (cost difference) is substantial,” Singson
qualified.
The original EPC
contract was negotiated as early as 2014, but the power project never moved to
construction phase because of the delayed approval of its power supply
agreement (PSA) with parent utility firm Meralco.
Until now, that power
supply deal is pending with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) with no
certainty yet on when the go-signal will be rendered.
While still at
transitional phase of the project’s development, Meralco PowerGen noted that it
has been continuing “to do some remedial works at the site, so we don’t cause
any environmental degradation.”
Aside from the proposed
RP Energy facility, the power firm is also advancing its US$3.0-billion
Atimonan One Energy (A1E) project that will bestow capacity addition of 1,200MW
for Luzon grid.
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