Meralco, partners buy Nigerian firms

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and its partners in Nigeria have taken over two privatized utility firms in the African country, expanding the Philippine firm’s foreign footprint.

“Nov. 1, I believe, was the turnover date,” Meralco chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said. He said the Meralco group sent two teams in October ahead of the formal turnover.

The Philippines’ top power distributor and its strategic partner, Lagos-based Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd., are part of a consortium that bagged deals to take over two firms privatized by the Federal Republic of Nigeria: Ibadan Electricity Distribution Co. Plc. and Yola Electricity Distribution Co. Plc.

Meralco president Oscar Reyes had said that the company was participating in the power privatization project mainly to gain international exposure, although the company would also earn from fees as the technical partner.

Earlier, Meralco and its controlling stockholder First Pacific Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong sealed a $488-million deal to acquire a 70-percent stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired power plant in Singapore. Elsewhere, First Pacific is also seeking opportunities in such markets as Myanmar.

On power generation, the Meralco group, through subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), is expanding its holdings to 3,000 MW of generation capacity up by 2020.

Asked about MGen’s build-up, Pangilinan said: “We’re doing our best to invest in more plants here (in the Philippines), in either existing or brownfield plants or even greenfield (new) plants.” MGen might tap coal and gas technologies, Pangilinan said.

MGen’s recent moves to power up on generation had it partnering with Global Business Power Corp., one of the biggest independent power producers in the Visayas, for projects in Mindanao.

MGen is also studying tie-ups with Chubu Electric of Japan and Shell of Europe. Depending on demand growth from power customers and the Department of Energy’s master plan for the natural gas sector (due in end-2013), MGen will decide which partnership to prioritize, Angelito U. Lantin, MGen senior vice president for commercial development, said in a text message.

MGen and Chubu Electric are jointly studying prospects for a 1,500-megawatt (MW) liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant in Atimonan, Quezon. MGen and Shell are considering forging an LNG supply partnership for a 1,200 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Batangas province. A 2018 opening is possible for both plants.