SMC officially takes control of Ilijan plant

The government has turned over the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan Power Plant, the largest natural gas facility in the country, to a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

Based on a disclosure in the Philippine Dealing System, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) handed over the power plant on June 3 to South Premiere Power Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.

This is in line with the 2010 administration agreement between South Premiere and PSALM on the Ilijan natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant.

According to the official website of the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Power Corp. awarded the project under an Energy Conversion Agreement to a local subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the facility operator, in December 1996.

The Ilijan power plant consists of two blocks, each comprising two gas turbine generators and one steam turbine generator, DOE said.

The build-operate-transfer contract of KEPCO Ilijan Corp. expired this June. San Miguel, which was declared the highest bidder last 2010, won the administration contract for the power plant.

SMC Global Power serves as the power arm of SMC, one of the leading publicly listed conglomerates in the Philippines with businesses in the food, beverage, fuel, infrastructure, banking and property sectors. INQ