Sta Rita power plant to help Meralco cut costs

The Manila Electric Corp. (Meralco) could save up to 50-centavo per kilowatthour (kWh) when it start getting power from the 1,000-megawatt (MW) gas-fired Sta. Rita power plant in Batangas.

The Sta. Rita plant is owned and operated by the First Gas Power Corp. (FGPC), a power generation company of First Philippine Holdings Inc. (FPHC) of which Meralco is a subsidiary.

It is expected to be fully onstream by late June to early July this year, and it will be feeding energy exclusively to Meralco. The power distribution company is presently relying on the National Power Corp. (Napocor) for most of its power requirements.

According to FGPC executive vice president Federico R. Lopez, the power generator will charge Meralco a basic rate of about P1.32 per kWh based on a crude price of $22 per barrel.

The basic rate of Napocor in the Luzon grid is P1.8743 although its effective rate is P3.0145 including the foreign currency adjustments.

Although the Sta. Rita plant was primarily designed to operate on natural gas fed by the Shell Philippine Exploration BV (Spexs), it will first run through condensate gas until 2002.

FGPC officials also indicated that Meralco could even realize savings when the 500-MW San Lorenzo gas-fired power plant also in Batnagas gets onstream in two years. The San Lorenzo plant is also being developed by FGP Inc., another FPHC powergen company.