MGen to build diversified power portfolio in 5 years

By Lenie Lectura May 26, 2020
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/05/26/mgen-to-build-diversified-power-portfolio-in-5-years/

THE power generating arm of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), is planning to build a portfolio of 3,000 megawatts (MW) in five years.

“We are targeting around 3,000 megawatts (MW) within the next five years, with 1,000MW entirely allocated to renewable energy (RE) projects,” said Meralco president Ray Espinosa during the annual meeting of the utility firm held Tuesday morning.

Espinosa said Meralco foresees the need for additional power supply to support the country’s growth moving forward.

“Building Meralco’s power distribution portfolio remains a highly strategic initiative of the company as we seek to add much needed reliable, and efficient power supply to support the Philippines’ growth momentum,” he said.

When sought for details, MGen President Rogelio Singson said 2,000MW of the company’s target will be produced by the San Buenaventura Power Plant Limited Co. (SBPL), Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E) and St. Raphael Power Generation, Inc. (St. Raphael). MGen and partners are behind these power projects.

“SBPL, A1E and San Raphael will be about 2,000 megawatts. RE, I still can’t mention because we are negotiating the sites,” Singson said via SMS.

Commercial operations of the 455MW SBPL in Mauban, Quezon started in October last year. It is the country’s first high efficiency, low emission, supercritical power plant capable of generating up to 3,430GWh per year with much less greenhouse gas emissions.

SBPL is a partnership between MGen, with a 51-percent stake, and New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Electricity Generating Company of Thailand (EGCO), the first independent power producer in Thailand.

Looking ahead, MGen said it is preparing for the launch and commercial operations of another highly efficient, supercritical power plant–the 2x600MW A1E.

Meanwhile, St. Raphael is a 50-50 partnership between MGen and Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp.

MGen also plans to develop a two-unit coal power plant each with a capacity of 300 MW in Subic, Zambales. The project will be undertaken by Redondo Peninsula Energy, Inc.

For RE, MGen’s focus is on the development of a portfolio of utility scale solar, wind and hydro power projects to supply Luzon grid and electricity consumers with competitive tariff.

MGen Renewable Energy Inc. recently secured an equity funding amounting to P424 million from Meralco that will be invested in various solar projects.

It has identified two solar power projects in Bulacan and Tarlac. However, these projects experienced a delay in the delivery of the PV panels from China due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.