First Gen ropes in Siemens for natural gas power project

First Gen Corp., through subsidiary First NatGas Power Corp., inked engineering and procurement as well as operations and maintenance deals with the Siemens group for the first of the three units of the $600-million San Gabriel combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Lopez-led First Gen said First NatGas signed on Dec. 16 an equipment supply contract with Siemens AG and a construction services contract with Siemens Inc. for the engineering, design, procurement, construction and completion of the 414-MW San Gabriel combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Santa Rita, Batangas City. The said 414-MW power plant is the first of the three plants of San Gabriel  power generation complex. The entire power project will have a capacity to generate 1,350 MW.

First NatGas also signed on the same date an operation and maintenance agreement with  Siemens Power Operations Inc. (SPOI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG.

Under the deal, SPOI will operate and maintain the first unit of the San Gabriel Combined Cycle Power Plant for 9.5 years.

The electricity to be generated by the San Gabriel Project will be sold in the Luzon grid.

The first unit will initially use  Malampaya gas. In the future, however, the proponent intends to operate the plant and the two other generation units on regasified liquefied natural gas.

The San Gabriel Project  is intended to be financed through an export credit agency-covered loan and the proceeds of First Gen’s recent $300-million Reg-S bond offering. The San Gabriel project was estimated to cost of $600 million.

The power generation complex will be located adjacent to the existing 1,000-MW Santa Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo Combined Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants, both of which are 100 percent-owned by First Gen.

Siemens was also the contractor for the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo power plants of First Gen.

First Gen is one of the major Filipino-owned independent power producers in the country  with  an  existing generation portfolio of about 2,763 MW with assets that primarily use indigenous, clean and/or renewable fuels.

The San Gabriel Project will use Siemens’ SGT6-8000H gas turbine technology—Siemens’ most advanced and efficient gas turbine, which has been proven to achieve more than 60 percent combined-cycle efficiency, First Gen said.

“The  signing for the 414-MW San Gabriel Project is a milestone, as we embark on our plans for taking our natural gas platform to greater heights. We  are constructing much needed additional power generating capacity for the Luzon  grid,” First Gen chair Fedrico Lopez said.

Lopez said the first of the three three power generation units was expected to start operation by the second quarter of 2016.

“The San Gabriel Project will be using the latest Siemens technology that will make it the most efficient gas-fired  plant  in the country,” Lopez said. Riza T. Olchondra