Some 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity are seen added to the grid with the near completion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) this year.
Ramon Ang, SMC president and chief executive officer, told reporters last Friday that a vessel filled with LNG already arrived as the import terminal starts commissioning this week and begin operations in about a month.
Ang said terminal capacity is rated at 1,200 MW but is being developed for an additional 1,300 MW or a total of 2,500 MW.
SMC is “hopeful” and “in a hurry” to have 1,200 MW ready in the dry months immediately ahead to provide the additional power source for the growing economy.
An industry source requesting anonymity said the Philippines will receive its first LNG shipment by mid-month to commission the Batangas LNG terminal in Batangas Bay which is the country’s first operational LNG import terminal.
The shipment will be used to fuel SMC’s 1,200 MW Ilijan power plant.
As of January this year, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Linseed Field Corp., the local unit of Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Co.’s LNG terminal project as well as FGEN LNG Corp. and its partner, BW LNG, are among the LNG terminals set to come onstream this year
Apart from them, there are five other LNG terminal proponents that include Samat LNG Corp., Luzon LNG Terminal Inc., Energy World Gas Operations Philippines, Inc., Shell Energy Philippines Inc. and Vires Energy Corp.
The DOE said natural gas consumption in the Philippines is seen reaching at least 24,263 MW by 2040 in the reference scenario and 18,883 MW in the clean energy scenario, from the current 2,011 MW power generation.
Growth will mainly be driven by the displacement of coal and oil-based fuels for power generation and greater use of gas-fired power plants as sources of balancing power.
SMC launched its battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Limay, Bataan last Friday.
Ang said SMC’s nationwide BESS network in 32 stations nationwide has a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of which 640 MWh is operational while the remaining 360 MWh should come onstream this December.
“Our BESS facilities will support the country’s power grid by storing excess power from existing plants and injecting this power back when and where it is needed, within milliseconds, ensuring power quality is stable and reaches users all over the country,” Ang said.
