First Gen’s Avion gas-fired plant ready by ’15

First Gen Corp. (First Gen) said it is set to complete the $150-million, 97-megawatt Avion open cycle natural gas-fired power plant by summer next year, in time to add much-needed capacity to the Luzon grid.

Avion is one of the power projects the company is seeking to fast-track to help address power supply concerns in Luzon next year.

In a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said it has chosen a Slovakian contractor for its power plant. The Avion plant is targeted to be completed and operational by April 2015, and will help provide additional power supply at that time.

First Gen said that, through its wholly owned subsidiary Prime Meridian Powergen Corp. (PMPC), it executed supply contracts with the Istroenergo Group (IEG) for the Avion plant project. IEG is an engineering contractor from Slovakia experienced in the construction of aeroderivative gas turbine power plants.

The Avion plant will use General Electric’s LM6000 PC Sprint aeroderivative gas turbines and have the capability to burn natural gas or liquid fuel.

Avion will be located adjacent to First Gen’s 1,000-MW Santa Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants in Batangas City.

Presently, the power situation in the summer of 2015 is the subject of debate on whether the government should be given emergency powers to address the power gap.

First Gen has said it is speeding up its gas-fired power plant projects in Batangas province with the first facility—the Avion peaking plant—to operate next year to help ease power supply concerns in Luzon.

First Gen president Francis Giles B. Puno has said that Avion, the first of the so-called San Gabriel gas power plants, is targeted for opening by summer next year and will operate mainly as a peaking plant to help address the Luzon grid’s peak energy requirements.

The plant will run on Malampaya gas and will have the capability to burn liquid fuel as backup.

“We have a very tight construction phase and we are going as fast as possible,” Puno said, adding that the company is working on formalizing negotiations for the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

First Gen will later construct the 450-MW San Gabriel combined cycle power plant, using one of the most advanced and efficient gas turbines in the market today.  The plant will use liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is a clean alternative to coal fuel. The phase 2 facility is set for opening on March 2016.

Asked about Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla’s request for a faster work plan for the San Gabriel power plant projects, Puno said, “Work is in full swing and we are already going as fast as we can.”