First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group said it is continuing with the development works of the 1,200-megawatt Santa Maria natural gas project in Batangas province to meet the growth in demand.
First Gen said in a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange the planned facility would use the latest available gas turbine in the market to maximize efficiency and provide more megawatts with less fuel requirements.
“The ongoing efforts on the project enables First Gen to be in a better position to make such power plant available in time to meet the expected growth in grid demand, and further help stabilize the grid by complementing intermittent renewables with more natural gas plants,” it said.
The company said the plant would be designed to serve baseload and mid-merit requirements of the Luzon grid.
First Gen was previously looking at completing the Santa Maria power plant by 2024 or 2025 in time for the completion of its proposed liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG), but such plans did not push through.
First Gen said it also continues to deploy its pioneering efforts in the development of the interim offshore terminal (IOT) project, having achieved practical completion in March 2023.
The company completed the tender and receipt of three LNG cargoes since the completion of the terminal.
The IOT project enables the company to use both Malampaya gas and LNG to power 2,000 MW of power plants located at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas.
FGEN LNG completed the commissioning activities of the terminal on March 20, 2024.