Continued travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic leading to construction setbacks have delayed the targeted commercial operations of the GNPower Dinginin supercritical coal-fired power plant.
In a report by BusinessWorld, Aboitiz Power Corporation President and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said that the earliest possible dates for the start of operations of generator Units 1 and 2 would be on June 26 and November 26, respectively, if there are no further delays.
AboitizPower previously said that it had aimed to complete the construction of the 1,336-megawatt (MW) facility in Mariveles, Bataan by the second quarter. Each unit has a generating capacity of 668MW.
Rubio further said that the construction is in its final stages, but still faces challenges due to the pandemic, particularly the movement of personnel and materials.
Should there be more delays, Rubio said that Units 1 and 2 would begin their respective operations on August 26, 2021 and January 26, 2022.
GNPower Dinginin began as a join venture between AboitizPower and Ayala-led AC Energy, which announced late last year that it is dropping coal from its power generation portfolio and is thus divesting from its 40% stake.
Photo from Aboitiz website.