LOPEZ-LED First Gen Corp. said on Monday that Unit 1 of its two-unit 97-megawatt (MW) Avion power plant is now running on both natural gas and liquid fuel.
“As an update to our Feb. 7 disclosure which advised that Unit 1 of the 97-MW Avion Power Plant is commercially available on natural gas, we are advising that the unit is now also commercially available on liquid fuel,” Frist Gen said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
Avion is owned by First Gen’s wholly owned subsidiary Prime Meridian Powergen Corp.
The company said last week that although the unit is partially running on natural gas, its manufacturer General Electric (GE) will continue recommissioning and testing activities using liquid fuel.
The repairs were done due to damaged compressors in the gas turbine of the 48.5-MW Avion Unit 1 in December last year.
Located in the First Gen compound in Batangas City, Avion is one of five power plants that source fuel from the offshore Malampaya natural gas field in Palawan.
It began operating on Sept. 26, 2016 and is said to be the first power facility to operate on aircraft engines for land-based power generation in the country.
Half of Avion’s capacity is contracted to National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for the grid’s ancillary services, while the other half is sold to the wholesale electricity spot market.
Shares of First Gen in the local bourse, closed unchanged at P27.00 apiece on Monday. — M.C. Lucenio
