Ayala, Phinma team up on P12B thermal power plant project

MANILA, Philippines—The Ayala conglomerate has teamed up with the Phinma group to build a 135-megawatt power plant in Calaca, Batangas, worth around P12 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Ayala disclosed that its wholly owned energy unit AC Energy Holdings Inc. (formerly Michigan Power Inc.) had signed a joint-venture agreement with Phinma-led Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.  for the construction and operation of the “circulating fluidized bed” (CFB) thermal power plant.

Construction of the new power plant is expected by September and commercial operations would begin in 2014.

CFB is a combustion technology that uses solid fuels, such as coal or biomass, to generate energy at a lower sulfur emission.

Ayala and TransAsia will set up a joint-venture company called South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. and with an initial authorized capital of P200 million. It will be owned 50 percent each by the two groups. The P12-billion project cost will be financed by a mix of debt and equity.