Phinma Energy Corp. decided to defer a planned 900-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan amid concerns over an oversupply of coal projects, a top executive said.
Phinma Energy president Francisco Viray told reporters the company was now looking at 2023 to 2025 as the construction window of the major coal plant. Phinma Energy is formerly known as Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Corp.
“There are now a lot of coal plants. We think there is enough coal to supply us,” Viray said.
The Energy Department earlier allowed Phinma Energy to conduct the grid impact study for the 3 by 300-MW Baquioen circulating fluidized bed coal fired power plant in Sual, Pangasinan.
Viray said Phinma Energy wanted to spread its resources and was not likely to put up more coal projects.
Trans-Asia and Ayala Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AC Energy Holdings Inc. (formerly Michigan Power Inc.) already completed a 270-MW coal plant in Batangas.
Trans-Asia also finished a 54-MW San Lorenzo wind project in Guimaras and expressed interest to expand the project. The wind farm consists of 27 wind turbines each with 2 MW of generation capacity installed over a 14 square kilometer area in San Lorenzo.
Phinma Energy owns and operates various power generation facilities including wind, diesel, geothermal and coal and sells electricity through bilateral contracts and through the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.