Semirara bullish on power business

MANILA, Philippines — Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) of tycoon Isidro Consunji expects brighter growth for the energy business as it continues to ramp up the overhaul of its coal-fired power plants.

“We continue to maintain them,” SMPC president and COO Maria Cristina Gotianun said when asked about the status of the power plants currently under maintenance.

The company, through wholly owned subsidiaries, operates four power plants in Calaca, Batangas with a total installed capacity of 900 megawatts (MW).

“The generator set in Unit 2 is okay. We’re running at 300 MW already. Toshiba rewound it,” Gotianun said.

The executive was referring to one of the two units of coal plants operated by Semirara subsidiary Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC).

The company earlier engaged the services of Japanese energy and electronics giant Toshiba Corp. to optimize the operations and prolong the lifespan of the Calaca power plants in Batangas.

With the restoration of SCPC Unit 2, Gotianun is seeing an improved bottom line for SCPC in the second half.

“We’re looking at a better income,” she said, indicating that the subsidiary’s earnings would be “better than the first half.”

Gotianun is also hopeful that the rewinding of SCPC Unit 2 will help cover the outages of other power plants.

She, however, pointed out that energy sales would still hinge on the average price in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).