SMC Ilijan plant restarts a year after Malampaya gas supply cut

The 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan gas-fired plant of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. finally resumed operations last week a year after fuel supply from the Malampaya gas field stopped, the Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed.

In a statement, the DOE said the Ilijan plant was “supplying power to the grid,” albeit at partial capacity, adding that the facility was “expected to improve its contribution to the energy supply in the Luzon grid” in the coming months.

The DOE did not state Ilijan’s current running capacity.

Ilijan came online on June 1, according to the DOE, but it was originally set to be reintegrated into the grid on May 26, as previously promised by San Miguel.

To recall, the power plant located in Batangas province went offline on June 5, 2022 due to cessation of supply deliveries from the Malampaya gas field.

Asked why there was a delay in the reopening of Ilijan, Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara explained that testing and commissioning were still ongoing on May 30.

“They are undertaking testing and commissioning. Delays can happen,” Guevara said in a text message.

She noted, however, that San Miguel was expected to ramp up the plant’s operating capacity to the full 1,200 MW by June 9.

San Miguel president Ramon Ang had said that the country “will be better assured of energy supply security these coming months and beyond” with the reopening of Ilijan.

This development comes after Linseed Field Power Corp., a local unit of global infrastructure firm Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Co., launched commercial operations of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, and received the country’s first LNG cargo delivery in April.

The facility supplies natural gas to Ilijan, which both the government and the private sector have been banking on to finally boost power supply in the country.

At the same time, the DOE lauded the Lopez family’s FGen LNG Corp. that was also set to receive its first LNG cargo delivery in the latter part of the year.

FGen LNG, a subsidiary of power firm First Gen Corp., recently inked an agreement with ports tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. for the lease and operation of FGen LNG’s terminal in Batangas.

“All these developments are positive signals reflecting the continuous interest of the private sector in investing in critical infrastructures that will allow the country to import and utilize imported LNG, and complement the available gas from the Malampaya reservoir to meet the country’s growing energy demand,” the DOE said in a statement. INQ