Belgrove Power Corp. plans to put up a 60-megawatt gas turbine power plant (GTPP) at a cost of P3.8 billion and rehabilitate unit 2 of the Malaya thermal power plant complex in Pililla, Rizal.
Belgrove said in documents submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the existing 650-MW Malaya plant is composed of two power generating units.
Unit 1 has a capacity of 300 MW which commenced commercial operation in 1975, while unit 2 can generate 350 MW of electricity and commenced commercial operation in 1979.
The MTPP was designated as a must run unit (MRU) by the Department of Energy (DOE) and is obligated to run and provide the needed power supply as deemed necessary by the system operator to ensure reliability of power supply in the Luzon grid, especially in times of supply shortfall, system security and voltage support.
Belgrove, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fort Pilar Energy Inc (FPEI), acquired the MTPP from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) in 2021.
FPEI is a corporation primarily engaged in the business of exploration, generation, supply, distribution, and commercialization of various forms of energy.
Belgrove said that given the current state of the plant, MTPP is not yet fully operational. BPC intends to fully operate unit 2, while unit 1 is in the process of decommissioning.
It said that to run unit 2, BPC implemented several repairs in unit 2 and replacement of old parts with new one. Once operational, unit 2 intends to provide ancillary services to the Luzon grid.
BPC is also installing and will be operating the 60-MW GTPP.
“The project purpose is intended for peaking and ancillary services. In general, ancillary services are essential to sustaining the transmission capacity and maintaining the power quality, reliability, and security of the grid. Sudden fluctuations in the frequency and the voltage of the transmission system are typically brought about by the intermittent operations of renewable energy plants, unplanned outages of conventional power plants, as well as the daily operational cycle of large power consumers,” the company said.
