DOE endorses 16 new major projects to NGCP

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The Department of Energy (DOE) endorsed 16 new power projects to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for system impact study in the first quarter.

The Mariveles natural gas plant of Mariveles Power, Inc. is the largest of the 16 projects that received a certificate of endorsement from the DOE. Located in Bgy. Biaan in Mariveles, Bataan, the facility would have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MW).

Next largest is the 875MW combined cycle plant of San Miguel Corporation (SMC)-owned Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI) in neighboring Limay, which is also the site of sister firm Petron’s oil refinery. EERI is one of two SMC subsidiaries that won contracts in the Manila Electric Company’s (MERALCO) competitive selection process last February.

Three offshore wind projects of 600MW each round up the top five largest endorsed projects, namely: Windkraft Group’s Guimaras Strait II project in between Negros Occiental and Iloilo, and San Miguel Bay project in the Camarines provinces; as well as Triconti Southwind Corporation’s Aparri Bay project in Cagayan. Windkraft is a Filipino-Swiss venture, while Triconti is a Fil-Swiss-German firm.

Other wind projects that were endorsed were Windkraft’s 450MW Frontera Bay offshore wind project in Cavite, Ayala’s 200MW Zambales South Wind Power Project, and Cleantech Global Renewables’ Kalayaan 2 Wind Power Project in Laguna and Quezon.

For solar, two floating projects under MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen) have the biggest among those endorsed. The San Pedro and Taguig projects would be located in the Laguna De Bay, both with capacities of 250MW each. MGreen is the renewables unit of MERALCO PowerGen Corporation (MGen), MERALCO’s generating arm.

Other solar ventures in the list are GM Energy Construction Philippines’ 110.703MW Lal-lo project in Cagayan, Aboitiz Power Corporation’s 98MW Laoag solar plant in Aguilar, Pangasinan, the 100MW Subic New PV project of Jobin SQM Inc. in Bataan, and the 18.011MW Raslag III venture in Pampanga.

The DOE also endorsed 20MW lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) project of King Energy Generation, Inc. in Maramag, Bukidnon and that of SN Aboitiz Power in the Ambuklao Dam complex in Bokod, Benguet.