The Department of Energy confirmed two new power projects as “Project of National Significance” under Executive Order (EO) 30.
The department approved on September 11 the application of Atimonan One Energy Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the power generation arm of Meralco, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), for its ultra-supercritical 2 x 600 MW coal power plant in Atimonan, Quezon.
MGen President Rogelio Singson said the Atimonan project is ready to start with construction.
Aside from Atimonan One Energy Inc., Island Wind Corp. was also declared as a “project of national significance” on August 30.
The 151.2-MW Talim wind power project is still in its early developmental stage. It sits on Talim Island, Binangonan and Cardona, Rizal. Targeted operational date of the first 80 MW plant is in June 2020 while the 70 MW plant is in June 2021.
On August 14, the DOE declared Kalinga geothermal-power plant project of Aragon Power and Energy Corp., as an energy project of national significance.
The first project to be approved under EO 30 was the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project (VMIP), which was certified in May.
The VMIP aims to interconnect the major grids into a single national grid to help improve the whole power-supply security in the country.
Under EO 30, concerned government agencies shall act on the applications for permits involving Energy Projects of National Significance (EPNS) under a 30-day period. If no decision is made by that time, it will be assumed that the application is already approved.
This way, the processing time of permits needed for power projects are reduced effectively.
To qualify as an EPNS, power generation and transmission projects need a capital investment of at least P3.5 billion, has significance to the economic development of the country, has a positive impact on the environment, complex technical processes and engineering designs.