The Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) has planned to invest in new technologies for various energy projects.
MGen has been studying new technologies in biomass energy development to help address the country’s garbage problem via waste-to-energy projects.
“I think there might be a way of addressing [the garbage problem]. I’m looking at new technology sa biomass because we have a lot of water hyacinths,” MGen President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio L. Singson was quoted saying in a BusinessWorld report.
He believed that there is a way to collect water hyacinths as feedstock for a biomass facility that will convert agricultural waste into electricity. The company targeted areas in Luzon to kickstart the project.
“But our second target would be micro-grids,” he said in the report, referring to provinces and municipalities that are independent from the country’s main network lines and substations.
Meralco’s board of directors has also approved the request for MGen’s unit, MGEN Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen) for a P424.2 million equity funding for its future solar projects that is estimated to have a combined capacity of 210-MegaWatt Peak (MWp) and project cost of P10.01 billion.
MGreen also announced its plan to invest in 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects over the next five to seven years
Apart from pushing forth renewable energy projects, MGen is also focused on utilizing high efficiency, low emission (HELE) technology for its baseload power plants.
The company has planned to build an ultra-supercritical, coal-fired power plant in Quezon province that will have two, 600 MW capacity power plants, and in Subic, Zambales that will have a two-unit, 3,300 MW capacity coal power plant
