FGen Avion plant resumes operations

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp. has resumed operating unit 1 of the 97-megawatt (MW) Avion power plant in Batangas, allowing the plant to supply its full capacity to the power grid.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, First Gen said unit 1 of Avion is now commercially available on natural gas operation.

“The unit is commercially available on natural gas operation, but (General Electric) GE will continue recomissioning and testing activities using liquid fuel,” the firm said.

Last December, First Gen’s subsidiary Prime Meridian PowerGen Corp. (PMPC) reported that the compressor of Avion’s Unit 1 was damaged, which was discovered during an inspection.

Due to the damage, GE said the 48.5-MW Unit 1 cannot be operated and should be further assessed onsite to determine the extent of the damage and effect repairs necessary to place the gas turbine back into service.

Last August, Avion’s second unit went offline due to damage found in its gas turbine, that was discovered in a routine inspection.

It was recommissioned using liquid fuel on Oct. 20, 2021 and using Malampaya natural gas later that month, allowing it to be commercially available on both natural gas and liquid fuel.

Located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City, the 97-MW Avion open-cycle natural gas-fired power plant started commercial operations on Sept. 26, 2016. It uses dual fuel aero-derivative gas turbines developed by GE.

It has the capability to run on either natural gas or diesel, and its turbines have the flexibility to ramp up quickly and to do unlimited daily starts and stops, making it the ideal merchant peaking plant in First Gen’s portfolio of assets.

First Gen owns and operates the country’s biggest fleet of power plants that run on natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel that emits just a fraction of the carbon dioxide of coal-fired power plants. Its portfolio of power plants also runs on geothermal, wind, hydro and solar, which are all RE.

Its portfolio of clean, low-carbon, and renewable power plants has a combined capacity of 3,495 MW.