KEPCO in talks with local partner to develop 1,000-MW Sual power plant

Korean Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) Philippines is in talks with a local partner to develop a 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sual, Pangasinan.

“We are now talking with a local partner to co-develop the Sual power plant project," KEPCO Philippines senior commercial manager Kang Jeong Go told GMA News Online on the sidelines of the Korean Trade Mission Power Forum in Makati City on Thursday.

Kang, however, did not identify the local firm.

He said KEPCO has already finished a feasibility of the Sual power plant, noting that the Korean power firm is investing around $2 billion for the project.

Pending regulatory approvals, KEPCO Philippines cannot determine when it will start work on the power plant project.

“We will pursue our Sual, Pangasinan project but when we start it will be decided after ERC decision,” Kang said.

The KEPCO official is referring to the six power supply agreements (PSA) of Manila Electric Co. in April 2016, which has yet to be resolved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Kang said it will be difficult for power producers to construct new power plants in the Philippines pending ERC’s decision as the PSAs by Meralco cover new electricity markets covering 3,551 megawatts of power capacity.

KEPCO has been operating for 20 years in the Philippines, with power plants in Pililia, Rizal; Ilijan, Batangas; and Naga, Cebu. —VDS, GMA News