Thursday, April 17, 2008 New owner to rehabilitate Masinloc power plant
AFTER settling fully its obligation for the acquisition of the 60-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant, Singapore-based AES Corp. is allocating nearly P2 billion for the upgrade of the plant.
Matthew Bartley, president of AES-Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd., said they are programming US$47 million or roughly around P1.927 billion for the upgrade of the Masinloc power facility.
Bartley said at the moment, only one unit of the Masinloc plant is running and it is not within the full capacity because its only half of the 300MW unit was operational.
"Only one unit of Masinloc is running at 150MW, and the other (unit is) shut down," Bartley told reporters shortly after the turnover ceremony held at the Power Sector and Assets Liabilities Management (Psalm) main office in Makati City.
Aside from the planned rehabilitation, which Bartley said expect to be conducted immediately, the new owner of Masinloc also committed to expand the plant by another 600MW.
Mark Woodruff, president of AES Asia and Middle East region, said they are set to invest another US$1 billion for the expansion of Masinloc plant.
According to Woodruff, the company will finance the expansion through internally generated funds and borrowings.
"The US$1 billion investment would be used for the installation of new generation plants," Woodruff said.
Should they complete the studies and secure all the necessary permits from the government for the expansion within this year, the company is expecting to start construction soon and expect to complete the new plants in four years or by 2012.
Woodruff also revealed that they are now evaluating all the Napocor (National Power Corporation) assets that are up for bidding this year for another possible acquisition.
For his part, Psalm president Jose Ibazeta said he is happy that finally they turned over to the new owner the operation of Masinloc, which is expected to lower the cost of electricity.
Aside from Ibazeta, also present during the turnover ceremony were Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Napocor president Cyril del Callar and other senior officials of the energy department. (MSN/Sunnex)
