New 600-MW power plant in Bataan to go on line in ’13

MANILA, Philippines—GN Power Ltd. is set to start on November 5 the testing and commissioning of its 600-megawatt coal-fired power facility in Bataan, keeping it on track with its target to go into full commercial operations by early next year.

Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia M. Asirit said GN Power was supposed to start the synchronization of its coal facility on October 22 but this was reset to next week, pending the completion of the company’s negotiations with transmission operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The testing and commissioning of this type of facility usually take three months to complete, according to Asirit.

“It depends on the synchronization or testing results,” Asirit said.

GN Power’s P44-billion coal plant is deemed critical in ensuring adequate power supply during the summer months of 2013, as this is the biggest power project, in terms of capacity, that is expected to come online next year.

The Department of Energy is banking on this additional capacity to boost efforts to prevent potential power outages in Luzon next year and avoid the significant economic costs of these brownouts, such as reduced investments, lost production and erosion of business confidence.

According to data from the DOE, other power projects that are expected to either start or resume full commercial operations next year include Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.’s 21-MW bunker-fired facility in La Union; Green Future Innovations Inc.’s 13-MW biomass facility in Isabela; and Alternergy Wind One Corp.’s 67.5-MW wind farm in Pililia, Rizal.

Based on the latest Philippine Energy Plan, the Luzon grid will need an additional capacity of 10,500 MW between now and 2030 to avoid power disruptions during the period. This is based on a 4.79-percent annual growth in energy demand.

According to these projections, another 600-MW base load facility will be needed by 2016 to ensure adequate electricity supply in Luzon. The DOE is considering several baseload facilities to meet the requirement. These include the planned 600-MW coal-fired power generation project in the Subic Freeport Zone of RP Energy—a consortium composed of Manila Electric Co., Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration.

It was earlier reported that President Aquino had secured the commitment of GN Power Ltd. to invest another $1 billion in two coal-fired power plants in Bataan, which should be operational by 2015.

GNPower is owned by Nauruan-American firm Power Partners Ltd. Co. and Filipino firm PMR Holding Corp.