After junking its coal projects, SMC steps up clean energy push

San Miguel Corp. (SMC), through SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMCGP), is doubling down on its push to adopt renewable energy while steering clear of new fossil-fuel-based projects as the conglomerate highlights sustainability in its post-pandemic recovery outlook.

“We’re executing on our plans to move away from building new coal facilities, despite new technologies that make them cleaner,” Ramon S. Ang, president of SMC, said in statement, referring to the high-efficiency, low-emission or “clean coal” power plants.

“It’s a company direction that is in line with all the major sustainability initiatives we have undertaken these past couple of years,” Ang said.

He said SMCGP had dropped plans to put up three new clean-coal power plants that together account for electricity generating capacity totaling at 1,500 megawatts, in favor of new facilities that use cleaner, renewable energy sources.

SMC’s power generation group had considered building two 600-MW generators in Quezon province and another 300-MW generator in Cebu.

Energy storage systems

Meanwhile, SMGCP is building a $1-billion fleet of 31 Battery Energy Storage System (Bess) facilities across the country with total capacity of 1,000 MW.

The entire fleet is expected to be completed in 2022, but United States-based Fluence—a contractor for part of San Miguel’s Bess campaign—last month said it had completed the commissioning of two 20-MW facilities.

One system is in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, while the other is in Malita, Davao Occidental. Both are part of a 470-MW deal between the two companies.

The partnership was forged after Fluence built a 10-MW Bess for San Miguel’s Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales, which served as a proof of concept for the succeeding initiative.

Fluence said additional 20-MW systems would be online shortly, including an expansion of the Bess at Masinloc to treble the system’s capacity to 30 MW, and a 20-MW system in Maco, Davao de Oro.

Implementation of plans

Ang said the Bess project represented SMC’s full-scale solution to fix power quality issues in the grid. More significantly, the project will allow for the integration of over 3,000 MW of intermittent renewable power sources to the grid.

He added that SMCGP would put up solar power plants in combination with battery storage facilities at 10 locations throughout the country. These will be operational by 2023.

“For several years now, we have been articulating our plans to move into cleaner and renewable power, and we would like to report to the public that now, these plans have not only taken shape but we have actually started implementing them,” Ang said. INQ