Aboitiz Power sets P100B for 2 coal power plants in Subic, Davao

MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp. has earmarked P100 billion over the next three years to fund mainly the two coal-fired power projects in Subic and Davao, which could further boost its generating capacity by another 475 megawatts.

In a briefing on Wednesday, APC president and CEO Erramon I. Aboitiz said that for 2011 alone, the capital expenditure budget of the company stood at P42 billion on a gross basis, which meant that this amount represented the investment in all projects, completely or partly owned by the APC.

These investments are expected to shore up APC’s generating capacity to over 2,500 MW by 2013, from the current 2,050 MW.

According to Aboitiz, the company is planning to tap project financing of about P50 billion on the project level for its Subic and Davao coal facilities. APC, he added, has been in talks with several banks and credit institutions for the planned financing.

Of the P50 billion project financing, about two thirds would be used for the Subic project and the rest for the Davao coal facility, Aboitiz said.

“(Final investment decision) still depends on the study that is being done and what sort of transmission lines that has to be put in place,” Aboitiz added.

The proposed Subic coal power project is being undertaken with Taiwan Cogen International Corp. through a special vehicle company called Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. Officially, APC has been building a 300-MW facility, but Aboitiz said the company would likely expand this to 600 MW.

According to Aboitiz, APC would use the fluidized bed technology for the power plant for cleaner emissions and to give the company the flexibility in terms of the fuel resource it could use, whether it be coal or biomass. Initially, APC planned to source coal from Indonesia and locally listed Semirara Mining Corp.

The Davao coal facility meanwhile will be undertaken solely by APC, through a wholly owned subsidiary Therma South.

APC targets to start construction for both facilities within the year.

“For the facility in Davao, we are waiting for the endorsement of the Davao city council and we hope to get that within the month. We also have applied with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for our Environment Compliance Certificate. Our internal target for that is probably sometime July. As soon as we get (the ECC), we would like to start construction within the third quarter,” Aboitiz disclosed.