The Energy Regulatory Commission issued San Buenaventura Power Ltd. a provisional authority to operate its power plant with 500 megawatts of baseload capacity in the Luzon grid.
Meralco PowerGen Corp. president Rogelio Singson said SBPL received the permit from ERC, resulting in full commercial operations of the Mauban, Quezon power plant starting Thursday.
The output of SBPL, a partnership between Meralco PowerGen, a unit of Manila Electric Co., and New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand, will prove critical in the coming months, especially in light of the scheduled maintenance shutdowns of Luzon’s biggest power generation suppliers.
“This is a welcome development, and one that shows that ERC understands that power demand in Luzon is steadily increasing, and the conditions show that we are in dire need of additional baseload capacity,” said Meralco vice president and head of regulatory management Jose Ronald Valles.
