Kepco eyes power deals in Subic, Cebu

MANILA, Philippines–Kepco Philippines Corp., a subsidiary of Korean Electric Power Co.(Kepco), is putting up new power projects in the Philippines to meet the growing demand for electricity in the country.

On the sidelines of an event held by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra), Kepco Philippines president and CEO Hyang-Reol Lyu told reporters that his company was keen on putting up power stations in Subic, Zambales and Naga in Cebu province.

The new project in Cebu will have a generation capacity of 300 megawatts (MW). It will be undertaken with local partner Salcon Power Corp. (SPC), Lyu said.

“We plan to finish the feasibility study by September this year. After that, we will proceed to the bidding of the EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract,” he said.

It has yet to be decided how much stake Kepco would be keeping in the Naga project, he said. Under Philippine laws, Kepco is allowed to take up to 40 percent interest in the project.

As for the Subic project, Lyu said it would be baseload.  He, however, declined to disclose further details as studies on the project were still ongoing.

Both projects would likely use coal as fuel, he said. “For competitiveness we are thinking of coal.”

Kepco was earlier reported to be keen on a 200-MW power generation project in Subic.

Luzon and the Visayas are currently experiencing tightness in power supply due a boom in energy demand. This goes as well for Mindanao as it struggles with rotating outages in many of its provinces.–Riza T. Olchondra