Lopez-led First Gen Corporation has allotted a capital expenditure (capex) of $550 million (around Php29 billion for this year, with a bulk going to the expansion projects to its renewable energy (RE) subsidiary Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project.
First Gen SVP and CFO Emmanuel Singson said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday that EDC will have $266 million to help fund its “growth initiatives, drilling programs, and upgrades,” which include the 3.6-megawatt (MW) Mindanao-3 binary project, along with the 29MW Palayan Bayan binary project, and the 20MW Tanawon plant.
The Palayan and Tanawon projects are expansion ventures of the Bacon-Manito geothermal power plant in Albay and Sorsogon.
Meanwhile, the Aya hydropower project in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija will be allotted $70 million. The project is expected to begin construction by the end of the year.
EDC will also be working on energy storage projects, silica extraction projects, and wind energy projects.
Meanwhile, First Gen’s LNG terminal – which the Department of Energy expects to commence commercial operations in the fourth quarter this year – has been allotted a $135 million capex to help complete its construction.
Around $50 million will be allotted for the 1,200MW Sta. Maria natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Batangas City. The company expects to construct the power plant within 28 months and has already completed the pre-development activities and secured key permits.
First Gen recorded a net income of Php3 billion for the first quarter, down by 25% year-on-year. The company currently has 3,495MW of installed capacity in its portfolio, accounting for 19% of the country’s total power generation capacity.