First Gen Corporation announced that the 97 megawatts (MW) of power generated by its Avion natural gas-fired power plant can now be offered and traded on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
Electricity from the Avion will be sold to the WESM to take advantage of its high clearing prices. The plant can also provide ancillary services to the grid if necessary.
“We are pleased to announce that Avion has finally achieved commercial operations. We likewise await the Certificate of Compliance (COC) for the 414MW San Gabriel plant. These two plants will add much-needed power supply to stabilize the grid,” First Gen Corporation president and COO Francis Giles said in a statement.
The Philippine Electricity Market, who operates the WESM, acknowledged the participation of the Avion power plant in their disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The Avion plant is located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Barangay Bolbok, Batangas City. It is a 97-MW open cycle natural gas-fired power plant that can run on either natural gas or diesel.
The plant’s turbine can do unlimited daily starts and stops, making the Avion plant the ideal merchant peaking plant in First Gen’s portfolio.
The Avion plant and the San Gabriel power plant are owned by the Prime Meridian Powergen Corporation (PMPC), and the First Natgas Power Corp (FNPC) which are both subsidiaries of First Gen Corp.
The PMPC is looking to shift to re-gasified natural gas (LNG) when supply from the Malampaya field is no longer available, as it also plans to use gas from the Malampaya as fuel.