Batangas Clean Energy Inc. plans to start the construction of the P60-billion 1,100-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Batangas province in August this year.
BCE, a joint venture of Ayala Group’s ENEX Energy Corp. and US-based Blackstone Inc. portfolio company-Gen X Energy LLC, said in documents submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the project would rank among one of the largest industrial investments in the area.
ENEX, formerly ACE Enexor Inc., is a subsidiary of ACEN Corp. It acquired a 50-percent stake in BCE in 2021.
The project will source natural gas from a nearby liquified natural gas import facility and is scheduled to enter construction in 2023. It is expected to start commercial operations in the second half of 2026 and operate for 50 years or longer.
The project will rise on 24 hectares of onshore land and 15 hectares of foreshore area in Barangay Libjo and Barangay Malitam, Batangas City.
BCE said it is pursuing the project in the wake of the need for new power generation capacity to come online by as early as 2025.
It said the power plant would have the flexibility to burn up to 50 percent (by volume) clean hydrogen as a supplemental fuel when hydrogen becomes commercially available and supply five to 10 percent of Luzon grid’s power requirements.
It said green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis of water using cheap renewable power from wind, solar, geothermal or hydropower or by steam reforming of biogases, will be either imported or produced domestically.
The plant was certified by the Department of Energy as an energy project of national significance that will be part of the next generation of CCGT power plants to help transition the Philippines away from more carbon-intensive coal and oil-fired baseload generation.
BCE said it would be among the first plants in the country to have the flexibility to use zero-emission hydrogen as a supplemental fuel.
It said the project would accelerate the integration of renewable energy by providing flexible generation to the grid and support the Philippines’ clean energy transition in line with its commitments under the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties.
BCE said it had secured relevant Batangas City LGU permits and conducted various field surveys and technical studies with local and international engineering/environmental consultants.
It also received conditional financing from a consortium of Philippine banks.