AES to proceed with $1B Masinloc power plant expansion

US-based power giant AES Corp. will push through with its $1-billion expansion plan to double the existing capacity of the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired facility in Zambales, according to a company official.

At the sidelines of Powertrends 2011 Thursday, Andrew Horrocks of AES told reporters that the company is now in the process of getting an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the proposed power plant and expects to secure other permits by November this year.

Horrocks said the first phase of the project would involve the construction of the 300-MW coal plant, expected to be completed by 2015. The second phase of the project will see the remaining 300 MW going online by 2018, should there be a demand for additional power at that time.

“Should the market be there and the commercial position be there, then we believe that probably, as we study the market and the market grows further, the next addition will be another 300 MW that will require moving forward,” Horrocks said of the planned second phase of the project.

Through its acquisition of the Masinloc I facility from state-run National Power Corp. in 2008, AES became the largest foreign investor in the country’s power sector.

As a result of capital investment and operational improvements, AES increased Masinloc’s capacity to 630 MW from 450 MW, improved availability to 74 percent from 50 percent, and increased net production by 62 percent within two years.

AES is a Fortune 500 global power company with generation and distribution businesses in 30 countries. The company owns and manages $40 billion worth of assets. In 2009, its revenue reached $14 billion.