Metrobank power unit receives COC

MANILA, Philippines - The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power sector watchdog, recently approved the issuance of a certificate of compliance (COC) to Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC), the power generation arm of the Metrobank Group.

The COC is specifically issued to CEDC’s 83,700.35-kilowatthour circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired thermal power unit in Brgy. Daanlungsod, Toledo City.

The ERC said the unit is one of three applied for by CEDC for COCs. The Toledo facility consists of three units with an aggregate installed capacity of 246 megawatts.

The ERC said Unit 1 was awarded a COC in February 2010 upon its commissioning and completion of documentary requirements. Unit 2, on the other hand, was commissioned and inspected by the ERC last month. Meanwhile, Unit 3 is expected to be commissioned and connected to the Visayas grid after its completion date on January 2011.

CEDC is a joint venture between Global Formosa Power Holdings Inc. (GFPHI) and Abovant Holdings Inc. (AHI). The parties entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to form a joint venture for the purpose of constructing a new coal-fired thermal power plant complex in Toledo City, Cebu.

GFPHI owns 56 percent of the company while AHI owns 44 percent. The construction of the complex started in January 2008 and will be completed in January 2011.

CEDC has an electric power purchase agreement (EPPA) with the Visayan Electric Co. (VECO) for the sale of a contracted capacity of 105 MW with a cooperation period of 25 years starting on its commercial operation.

Also, CEDC has a MOA with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for transmission services via an interconnection to the 138-KV NGCP Talavera substation.

The ERC noted that a bypass transmission line, that will interconnect the CEDC and Toledo Power to the NGCP Naga Substation, is presently undergoing construction which will eventually directly connect CEDC and Toledo Power to the facilities of VECO.

The bypass transmission line, the ERC said, will also ease up power congestion that may occur along the Talavera transmission line.

“We are elated with this positive development in the power generation sector since it will augment the short power supply in the Visayas. The development will benefit the electricity consumers in terms of improved standards of living and economic growth,” ERC chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut said.