Aboitiz Power Corp. should be able to award in the next two weeks the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for a proposed coal-fired power plant in Cebu, its third such facility thus far.
Emmanuel Rubio, Aboitiz Power president and chief executive officer, told reporters in Taguig City this was preparatory to the expansion of the 340-megawatt Therma Visayas plant on the island, a coal-fired power facility.
But there is a catch to the proposed construction. It seems that while all the regulatory requirements and permits are in order, the enterprise is unsure the project gets the required funding for the plans to push through.
According to Rubio, while the TVI unit 3 project remains an option given its coal-fired design, it will likely get Department of Energy support because that was its original design long before a moratorium lasting until 2020 was in place.
“We asked DOE for a certification and we got that,” Rubio said.
The project has also since obtained an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
“We already have the ECC. If we are going to be strict about it, the project should be outside the moratorium,” he said.
What is uncertain is the support of the financial community who prefer renewable energy projects over legacy or coal-fired power projects like the TVI.
Rubio said the TVI addresses part of the need for additional capacity in the Visayas grid that should be in place as early as 2027.
Rubio said they have presented plans before the Department of Energy (DOE) for the construction of a 130 MW or 150 MW TVI unit deemed feasible under the plant’s current design.
Aboitiz Power has considered building an alternative 150 MW unit fueled instead by liquefied natural gas or even solar.
However, he said studies show a coal fueled facility is still the cheapest to build in the area as the bulk of expenses relate only to its boiler and steam turbine generator.
Nevertheless, Rubio acknowledged the coal-fired version remains an option given the 2020 moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power projects.
The enterprise is also optimistic that a coal-fired power plant expansion should still secure financing as the project was presented before the provincial government of Cebu and was welcomed by local officials and business groups.
“We are looking at delivering this unit by 2027. Once we receive binding offers for the EPC. We will go to our board for approval. We have the certification from DOE allowing this to be built and the need for self sufficiency in Cebu and the endorsement of the government and from Cebu governor Gwen (Garcia),” Rubio said.
Aboitiz Power is also set to complete the installation of 400 MW of renewable energy capacity this year from solar and geothermal sources.
It plans spending P190 billion over the next decade for an additional 3,700 MW in renewable energy and growing its capacity to 4,600 MW or three times its current renewables portfolio by 2030.
Close to 1,000 MW of Aboitiz Power projects in wind and solar and geothermal projects are in the pipeline.
Among them are the 17-MW binary geothermal power plant in Tiwi, Albay; the 159-MW solar plant in Laoag, Pangasinan; the 173-MW solar project in Calatrava, Negros Occidental; and another 44-MW solar plant in Armenia, Tarlac.
