Masinloc's AES vows to expand plant capacity

Officials of Singapore-based AES Transpower Pte. Ltd., the parent firm of the winning bidder for the 600-megawatt Masinloc power plant in Zambales, on Thursday told President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that they are committed to expanding the plant's capacity. According to a statement from Malacañang, AES president Paul Hanrahan told President Arroyo that they will be building another 600-MW coal-fired plant to add to the existing Masinloc facility. Malacañang quoted Hanrahan as saying that they were “pleased" with the way the bidding process had turned out and that they were “committed" to completing the sale as soon as possible. “And we’re also committed to begin the process of building a second unit in Masinloc which will be another 600-megawatt unit which will be fundamental part of our business strategy to expand," the statement quoted Hanrahan as saying. According to the statement, Hanrahan said construction of the second power plant is likely to begin next year right after rehabilitation works on the original Masinloc power plant are completed. “In the first year, there will be certain amounts of investment to improve the reliability and the performance of the (first) plant and then we will move on to the second unit which will start with the planning in accordance to developing the second phase of Masinloc which has always been part of the plan to have a second plant," Hanrahan said in the statement. Hanrahan said in the statement that the President was pleased with their commitment and expressed “encouragement" at the prospect of more investments in the power sector. “She was very positive. She was pleased to see one of the processes (in the privatization of the country’s power plants) going well. She was also very encouraged about the idea of having more investments in the power sector because she sees it as a way to further develop the market and to cause more efficiency and more competitiveness in the (power) market," Hanrahan said in the statement. AES won the bid for the purchase of the Masinloc power plant by placing the highest bid with its $930 million offer through its unit, Masinloc Power Partners Co., Ltd. The bid proved to be the highest bid for the power plant and bested other bidders including Anglo Cayman Energy Development Company Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the world’s top coal producer Beijing Guohua Electric Power Corp., and Masinloc Consolidated Power, Inc., a partnership between Ranhill Berhad A. Brown Company, Inc. and First Gen Luzon Power Corp. of the Lopez group. - GMANews.TV