SMC power unit gets nod to do study
MANILA, Philippines—SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. has been cleared by the Department of Energy to have a grid impact study (GIS) conducted on its six proposed power facilities that can potentially add as much as 3,000 megawatts in installed capacity to the three main grids.
Documents from the Department of Energy (DoE) showed that SMC Global, the power generation arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., plans to build in Cavite a power plant that can generate as much as 1,200 megawatts—the biggest of the proposed facilities in its power portfolio.
SMC Global also wants to put up a 600-MW power generating facility in Bulacan, and another plant in Leyte, also with a 600-MW capacity. In Panay, a 150-MW power plant is also being considered.
In Mindanao, SMC Global targets to put up a 300-MW power plant in Davao del Sur and a 150-MW facility in South Cotabato, where San Miguel last year acquired three coal mines that have resources capable of powering a 750-MW facility over the next 25 years.
The clearance granted by the DoE was necessary as the grid impact study, which will be conducted by the national transmission network operator, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), will be needed to determine if the electricity to be generated by the proposed power projects can be absorbed by the grid or if the existing transmission lines are enough to transmit the electricity from the power plant to the substations.
The study will thus determine if SMC Global can put up their power plants in the areas they have chosen. A proponent has to know if the power project can be absorbed by the grid or if the facility will only cause a congestion of power, among others.
The issuance of a clearance also comes with a letter of endorsement from the DoE to the NGCP.
San Miguel earlier committed to put up all the power facilities under its 3,000-MW portfolio within the six-year term of President Aquino as part of its thrust to help solve the country’s power woes over the next five years.
San Miguel is the biggest power player in the country with an installed capacity of 3,148.48 MW. This capacity may decrease as the company is now in the process of selling the 620-MW combined cycle facility in Limay, Bataan.
