SPC Power set to finish phase 1 of Cebu project

MANILA, Philippines - SPC Power Corp., a joint venture between Korea Electric Power Co. (Kepco) and local investors led by businessman Dennis Villareal, said it expects to complete the first phase of its 200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Naga, Cebu within a year.

SPC Power senior vice president Antonio Corpuz said the project is now 85 percent complete, with the second 100-MW unit seen to be completed by May 2011.

The company official said this project would help alleviate the power supply problem in the Visayas. The Department of Energy (DOE) has been urging investors to fasttrack the completion of their respective power projects due to creeping supply shortage.

Doosan Heavy Industries of South Korea will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction of the coal plant, Corpuz said.

“By November, Unit 1 will already generate 100 MW but reliability tests have to be done by Doosan to ensure they can meet their contractual commitments like plant efficiency, heat rate, among others. Then, they will conduct a 60-day reliability test and subsequently turn over the unit to Kepco-SPC Power for commercial operations not later than Feb. 28, 2010,”he said.

Kepco and SPC Power jointly own the $491-million Cebu coal-fired power plant. About 70 percent of the total project cost was sourced from lenders including the Asian Development Bank.

The coal-fired power facility is expected to generate 1,489 gigawatthours of electricity yearly. It will utilize circulating fluidized bed combustor technology, a clean technology which has better efficiency in the regulation of gas emissions, an inherent weakness of coal-fired power plants, making it more environment friendly.

Recently, Kepco-SPC Power inked supply agreements with electric cooperatives in Cebu at a generation price of P4.2798 per kilowatthour “subject to adjustments in fuel, foreign exchange and local and foreign price indices.”

The group said they chose Cebu as the site for their power facility as it has an access to coal suppliers, low capital cost and availability of clean coal technology.

Corpuz said they may source the plant’s additional coal requirements from Indonesia.

SPC Power also runs a 55-MW Naga land-based gas turbine power plant in Cebu after paying the government $1.008 million. It likewise owns the 146.5-MW Panay and 22-MW Bohol diesel power plants, which were bid out in November 2008.