spot_img
27.6 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Meralco opens P56-billion supercritical coal-fired power plant in Quezon

- Advertisement -

Mauban, Quezon”•San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. on Tuesday inaugurated a P56.2-billion supercritical coal-fired power plant here to provide 500 megawatts of additional supply to the Luzon grid.

The country’s first and most advanced operational coal plant uses a high-efficiency, low-emission coal technology that allows the plant to operate at increasingly higher temperatures and pressures.

The SBPL plant is a partnership between Meralco PowerGen Corp. and New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Electricity Generating Co. of Thailand.

Meralco PowerGen is the power generation subsidiary of Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest electricity distributor.

Meralco PowerGen president Rogelio Singson said the supercritical HELE technology in coal plant could reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve the efficiency of the power plant.

- Advertisement -

“We hope we can also bring an ultra supercritical coal plant,” Singson said.

Singson said SBPL was completed “on budget and on schedule.”

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the 500-MW power plant would help provide much-needed power in Luzon.

“The Philippines is a developing economy in which energy plays a crucial role. The country’s drive toward progress, prosperity and global competitiveness is directly correlated to our rising energy requirements. Thus, part of our goal involves a long-term initiative geared towards a sustainable, diversified and balanced energy mix that is responsive to the country’s growing energy needs,” Cusi said.

He said the Philippine electric power industry welcomed the entry of new and emerging innovations, such as the plant’s supercritical power generation technology which produces more efficient power while emitting less greenhouse gases.

“Bearing in mind that the energy choices we make today will affect future generations, I am glad to have been given the opportunity to participate in the inauguration of one of the most advanced and efficient plants in the country,” Cusi said.

Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Agnes Devanadera said the completion of the power plant was very timely given the yellow alerts raised in the Luzon grid on Monday and Tuesday because of thin power reserves.

The new power plant, which started commercial operations on Sept. 26, now supplies power to Luzon.  The plant was partly funded by a P42.15-billion project finance facility”•the Philippines’ largest all-peso transaction to date that was put together by a consortium of local banks.

It was built by the consortium of South Korea’s Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. which are both experienced engineering, procurement and construction contractors.

SBPL is Meralco’s first majority-owned, commercially operating power plant.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles