Meralco to build $150-M Calamba ‘peaking’ power plant

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Philippines’ biggest power distributor, will build a “peaking" power plant for $150 million to feed its electricity needs during peak hours. "We announced our objective to put up 1,500 MW. We'll probably start with our peaking plant project in Calamba, Laguna. We hope to put it on stream as early [as the] first quarter of next year," Meralco president and CEO Manuel Pangilinan told reporters Thursday. The company intends to fund the new power plant — that will run on either diesel, jet fuel, or natural gas — with its own money without having to borrow from lenders, Pangilinan said. On per kilowatt-hour basis, the peaking plant’s output will cost consumers more, but still lower than electricity bought from the wholesale spot market, according to the Meralco chief, without citing details. — VS, GMANews.TV