Aboitiz unit ramps up power generation

MANILA, Philippines—To further strengthen its foothold in the power industry, Aboitiz Power Corp. will increase its generating capacity over the next few years upon completion of several rehabilitation programs, as well as greenfield and brownfield power projects.

From a total attributable generating capacity of 2,051 megawatts as of end-2010, APC expects to shore up its capacities for 2011 once the rehabilitation of the 75-MW Ambuklao facility is completed by the third quarter.

APC, together with partner SN Power, had started work on both the Ambuklao and the 100-MW Binga hydro facilities to raise their capacities to 105 MW and 120 MW, respectively—a move that will significantly augment the power supply in the Luzon grid. Rehabilitation work on Binga will be finished by 2014.

The power firm also expects partial completion of its rehabilitation project for the 467-MW Tiwi-Makban geothermal power facilities within the year. Once completed, the generation capacity and plant availability of these facilities are expected to improve to approximately 484 MW.

In the years ahead, APC plans to embark on greenfield and brownfield developments that can add over 1,000 MW in capacity.

As earlier reported, these projects included the 600-MW coal-fired power plant in Subic, through its 50 percent owned Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., and another 300-MW coal-fired power plant in Davao, which is considered to be the biggest load center in Mindanao.

Last year, APC and its partners for the existing 232-MW coal plant at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental, firmed up their collective intention to develop a third unit of approximately 150 MW capacity.

The company’s wholly owned subsidiary Hedcor Tudaya Inc. (Hedcor Tudaya) also plans to put up two run-of-river power plants to be located near the existing Sibulan hydropower plant. The two facilities will have a combined capacity of 13.6 MW.

Another subsidiary, Hedcor Tamugan Inc. (Hedcor Tamugan), is expected to push through with the 11.5-MW Hedcor Tamugan hydropower plant project also in Davao.

The SN Aboitiz Power Group is also in the process of evaluating several hydropower plant projects. A brownfield project is being evaluated for its Magat hydropower plant, which involves the construction of a pumped storage that could potentially increase its capacity by at least 90 MW. The SNAP Group is likewise evaluating several greenfield hydropower plant projects that each have at least 70 MW of potential capacity.

Its wholly owned subsidiary Hedcor Inc. is also conducting feasibility studies for potential hydropower projects that may have capacities of 5 MW to 50 MW each.