Kepco in search of power plant site

Korea Electric Power Corp., an energy firm owned by the South Korean government, is currently looking at potential sites in Luzon where it can put up a new power facility.

According to Kepco Philippines president and CEO Kyu-Beng Hwang, the company plans to conduct a study that will look into the viability of its proposed power project as soon as it has chosen a site.

They are hoping to conduct the feasibility study within the year, he added.

Kepco Philippines’ planned power facility is expected to serve the future power demand in Luzon, Hwang further noted.

It was estimated that the Luzon grid would need additional 4,200 megawatts within the next decade, given an expected 4.5-percent increase in power demand each year.

Hwang did not reveal any more details as the company is still in the early stages of the power project.

Kepco Philippines earlier bared plans to build a 200-MW coal-fired power plant to address the electricity requirements of a Korean shipbuilder operating at the Subic Bay Freeport.

A memorandum of understanding pertaining to this plan was signed between the Philippine and Korean governments back in 2011.

Under the MOU, a coal-fed facility would be put up within the Subic ecozone to serve the electricity requirements of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd.-Philippines Inc., reportedly the biggest locator in the freeport.

But Kepco apparently now wants to consider another location for its proposed coal facility.

At present, Kepco operates two major facilities: the 1,200-MW Ilijan combined-cycle natural gas power plant in Batangas, and a 200-MW circulating fluidized bed combustion facility in Naga, Cebu.

Also, Kepco has donated $3.16 million worth of power distribution equipment to 17 electric cooperatives to help boost the operational efficiency of the local utilities.

This is the third time that Kepco has donated equipment to power cooperatives in the Philippines.