Meralco, Thailand's EGCO sign deal over Quezon power plant

A unit of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will own 51 percent of the proposed coal-fired power plant in Quezon province in a deal signed Thursday with the subsidiary of Thailand's Electricity Generation Public Company Limited (EGCO) Group to co-develop the project.

 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, the Philippine utility said wholly-owned subsidiary Meralco Powergen Corp. signed on August 29 a joint development deal with New Growth B.V., a wholly-owned unit of EGCO Group involving a 460-megawatt super-critical, coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon.

 

Under the agreement, Meralco Powergen will hold 51-percent equity in the project "inclusive of rights to assign up to 2 percent thereof to an approved assignee," while New Growth will hold 49 percent in the power venture.

 

"The project's cost is yet to be determined and will depend largely on final design, specifications and other terms determined during the engineering, procurement and construction tender process," the disclosure read.

 

According to World Coal Association, super-critical technologies operate at increasingly higher temperatures to achieve higher efficiency and significantly less carbon dioxide emissions than conventional coal-fired power plants.

 

On Wednesday, Meralco's board authorized Meralco PowerGen to execute a development and other related agreements with EGCO. 

 

In July, EGCO decided to invest in established and operating power projects in the Philippines, like the Quezon power plant. In the process, the Thai company sold its stake in Mindanao-based power producer Conal Holdings Corp. to Alcantara Group's Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. 

 

In February, Meralco said it was in the planning stages of building 2,880 MW of new capacity to grow its power generation portfolio long-term ahead of a possible power supply crunch in Luzon in the next few years. — VS, GMA News