Aboitiz Power to shut down 2 Cebu power plants

MANILA, Philippines—Industry giant Aboitiz Power will decommission two fossil fuel plants in Naga City in Cebu province by the end of March.

In a disclosure, the company said its subsidiary Therma PowerVisayas, Inc. (TPVI) received the letter of confirmation from the Department of Energy for its request to cease the operations of its 44.640-megawatt Naga oil-fired power plant

and 0.440-MW black start diesel engine generating unit.

These facilities are located at the Naga Power Plant Complex.

“The decommissioning was pursued in view of the technical and operational issues of the plant caused mainly by the advanced age of the diesel engines,” Aboitiz Power said.

The group said concerned agencies and offices, such as the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc., the National Grid

Corporation of the Philippines, the Energy Regulatory Commission, would be notified of the development.

It was in July 2018 when TPVI purchased the Naga Power Plant Complex from Salcon Power Corp.

Aboitiz Power has not yet disclosed if it has plans to recover the lost capacity or whether it is looking at new projects for the site.

Just last week, the firm, through its subsidiary Therma Mobile Inc., suspended the operations of its two floating power plants in Metro Manila. The group aims to make them operational again on February 1, 2027.

Therma Mobile made this decision “due to technical and commercial challenges that prevent or hamper their full utilization and continued safe and efficient operation,” Aboitiz Power said.

Aboitiz Power’s businesses stretch to power generation, power distribution, retail electricity services, and distributed energy.

Its power generation portfolio includes both renewable and non-renewable generation plants.

It is targeting to hit 4,600 MW of renewable capacity by 2030, involving the activation of 3,700 MW of new capacity—covering solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and battery energy storage systems.