San Miguel Corp. has put on hold developing greenfield power plants after its recent acquisition of the Masinloc coal-fired power plants in Zambales province.
“It’s on hold but we will still build it if there is a market,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang over the weekend.
San Miguel earlier planned to build two 600-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Luzon, pending environmental compliance certificates and the approval of a power supply agreement with Manila Electric Co.
San Miguel subsidiary Central Luzon Premiere Power Corp. planned to build the 600-MW coal-fired power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon province set to be operational in 2021.
Meralco agreed to purchase up to 528 MW of the output of Central Luzon Premiere but the power supply agreement remained pending with the Energy Regulatory Commisson.
Another San Miguel unit, Mariveles Power Generation Corp., is also supposed to put up a 600-MW circulating coal-fired power generating facility in Mariveles, Bataan province for completion in 2020.
Meralco agreed to secure 528 MW from Mariveles Power Generation but the supply deal was also pending with the ERC.
San Miguel’s power unit SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. recently acquired the stakes of AES Corp. of the US and Electricity Generating Public Co. of Thailand in Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. for $1.9 billion.
Prior to the acquisition, San Miguel’s total capacity stood at 4,100 MW.
“We are happy to be able to acquire Masinloc. The additional power assets provide us an opportunity to increase our footprint in clean coal technology that provides reliable and affordable power, particularly in Luzon,” Ang said.
The enterprise value of MPPCL was estimated at $2.4 billion.
“In fact, we have substantially reduced emissions even from our existing power plants to continue promoting the economy’s growth and produce energy in environmentally responsible way,” Ang said.
MPPCL owns and operates the 630-megawatt Masinloc power plant, its 330-MW expansion now under construction and a 10-MW battery energy storage facility, all in Masinloc.