GNPOWER DINGININ Ltd. Co. (GNPD) has secured financing for the second 668-megawatt (MW) unit of its two-unit super-critical coal-fired power plant in Dinginin, Bataan, the partners in the power generation project said on Tuesday.
“The estimated project cost of the GNPD Project is US$1.7 billion, with the debt component to be provided by Philippine banks,” said Aboitiz Power Corp. and Ayala Corp. in separate disclosures to the stock exchange.
The project is a limited partnership among AboitizPower unit Therma Power, Inc., Ayala Corp. unit AC Energy Holdings, Inc., and Power Partners Ltd. Co.
Therma Power houses AboitizPower’s investments in non-renewable energy projects. It has around 50% beneficial economic interest in the project.
AboitizPower also said GNPD had signed the amended engineering, design, procurement, and construction contracts with Shanghai Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd. and Power Construction Corporation of China on Dec. 5.
“The GNPD Project will support the increasing electricity demand of Luzon and Visayas. Construction of the first unit is scheduled for completion by 2019, with the second unit scheduled for completion by 2020,” the company said.
In a statement, John Eric T. Francia, AC Energy president and chief executive officer, said the project not only brings the company closer to its 2020 target capacity “but also addresses supply requirements in the 2020s, amidst medium term supply uncertainties in the power sector.”
Among these uncertainties, he said, include the delays faced by other major power plants as well as the future of Malampaya and liquefied natural gas.
AC Energy placed its attributable capacity, including the Dinginin project, at more than 1,600 MW, or closer to its 2,000-MW target of power plants that are operational or under construction.
The Ayala Corp. unit is one of the fastest-growing local energy companies, having expanded its capacity from only 80 MW when it started in 2011. It marked its overseas expansion last year with its Sidrap wind and Salak-Darajat geothermal plants in Indonesia.
“The company expects to make investments in Vietnam in 2018 to further expand its geographic footprint in Southeast Asia,” AC Energy said. — Victor V. Saulon
