MGen shortlists EPC bidders for Quezon plant

MANILA, Philippines – Meralco Powergen Corp. (MGen), Manila Electric Co.’s power generating arm, will complete its contractor selection process for its 2x600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Atimonan, Quezon before the year ends to start construction by mid-2017.

The company has received bids from four potential EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors for Atimonan One Energy Inc. in late 2015, which has been shortlisted to three, MGen general manager Angelito Lantin said.

“Selection of preferred EPC contractor is targeted in the fourth quarter of 2016,” he said.

MGen is also working on the construction of the resettlement site for affected households after receiving the certificate of land use conversion for the project site in March 2016.

Lantin said the company would complete the construction and hand over the project to affected households in the first quarter 2017 to allow main project construction to proceed on schedule.

He said site preparation is targeted to start in mid-2017. Target completion of the 600-MW Unit 1 is in late 2021.

Full capacity of the Atimonan project will be sold to Meralco under a 20-year power supply agreement signed earlier this year, pending the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Atimonan project is one of the coal-fired power plants MGen is working on to meet its 3,000 MW capacity target.

The other plants are the 455-MW San Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL) project in Quezon and the Redondo Peninsula Energy (RP Energy) project in Subic, Zambales.

SBPL is a joint venture of MGen with New Growth B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand’s Energy Generating Co. while RP Energy is a consortium composed of MGen, Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp.