TeaM Energy sells excess capacity

MANILA, Philippines - TeaM Energy Corp., a joint venture between Japanese firms Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Marubeni Corp., has signed up 170 megawatt (MW) of its 200 MW excess capacity.

TeaM Energy president and CEO Federico Puno said the remaining 30 MW is left as buffer/reserve capacity and part is being traded at the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

Of the 170 MW, some 36 MW was signed up with Philex Mining Corp.

Puno said the company started to supply the full energy requirement of Philex Mining in Tuba, Benguet.

The company official said they have signed an energy supply deal with the country’s largest mining firm that will run through the end of the year.

“We look forward to a fruitful and lasting relationship with our new business partner Philex. It is our honor to be able to provide them reliable and cost-efficient energy to power their operations,” Puno said.

Aside from Philex, the company also has long-term bilateral contracts, with Benguet Electric Cooperative, Bataan Economic Processing Zone, and La Union Electric.

Philex mining operations are located in Tuba, Benguet. It has a peak demand reaching 36 MW. TeaM Energy formerly co-supplied Philex with the National Power Corp. until Dec. 25, 2009.

The electricity provided Philex will be sourced from TeaM Energy’s 1.218 MW clean-coal facility in Sual, Pangasinan.

Philex mines gold and copper which it exports to Japan. The Metro Pacific group of Manuel V. Pangilinan is Philex’s biggest stockholder/owner accounting for at least a 46-percent stake in the company. Pangilinan is the chairman and CEO of the mining firm.

Through its partnership with TeaM Energy, Philex will be able to significantly lower its electric utility costs.

Puno stressed that large industrial users stand to benefit from bilateral energy supply agreements with TeaM Energy as it allows them the opportunity to reduce business costs, pointing out that electric utility costs account for a significant portion of total business expenditures.

“Apart from generating power for the Luzon grid, our plants are also capable of providing for the power needs of large industrial end-users at competitive rates,” said Puno.

TeaM Energy is one of the largest private producers of electricity in the country with over 2,000 MW of generating capacity. 

It also operates the 735 MW Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon and has a 20 percent stake in the Ilijan natural gas facility in Batangas.