With power demand expected to slacken, Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., a joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogen International Corp., has suspended construction of a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, northwest of Manila, Aboitiz Power president Erramon Aboitiz said.

?We have pushed back our notice to proceed,? he said at a news briefing. ?We decided to hold off and review it for the second quarter. We were hoping to start construction in the first quarter of the year.?

The joint venture will review the cost of the project, which it had estimated at $450-$460 million, ?because costs have come down,? Aboitiz said.

It will also assess demand in the Luzon power grid amid in the face of the global financial crisis, he added. ?If growth is negative, we will probably think of delaying the project further,? he said.

Redondo Peninsula has awarded to Formosa Heavy Industries a contract for supply of the boiler, steam turbine, generator and related services to be used in the construction of the power plant. Edited by INQUIRER.net