Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy) is in talks with three local banks for a P30-billion loan for the construction of its 2×300 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant.
“We’re in the thick of due diligence and loan agreement discussions with the lenders and our advisers,” Meralco senior vice president and Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) general manager Angelito Lantin said.
However, Lantin did not give the name of the banks.
He added that the loan amount makes up for 70 percent of the total project cost of the power plant in Subic, Zambales.
“We can sign loan agreement by December, I think. But for the drawdown, we’ll have to wait for ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) [to approve power supply agreements (PSAs)],” he said.
RP energy will proceed with the contruction of the first 300-MW unit of the plant when it completes financing deals.
“We’re ready to start construction after we sign those agreements,” he said.
The company has signed a power supply agreement with the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), who will supply 225 MW.
Last week, RP Energy announced it inked a construction contract with Azul Torre Construction Inc. and a supply contract with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd. for the coal-fired power plant.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and will go online in mid-2020.
Meralco’s power generating unit MGen owns 47 percent of RP Energy, while Aboitiz unit Therma Power Inc. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. each own 25 percent.
This coal fired power plant should not be allowed to proceed. The plant site location is not acceptable. Installation of this coal fired power plant will impact the ongoing beach front development at the Bataan side of Subic bay i.e. Waterfront area, Subic international airport, Ocean Adventure, Anvaya Cove, etc. This development is promoting clean environment and therefore coal fired power plant is out of place in this area. The plant is located far from the existing transmission line. It will need +30 kms of new transmission line to connect to Hermosa substation. Since Hermosa substation is already overloaded with power supplied from Mariveles and Limay additional load from Subic shall require upgrade of the substation and transmission line to San Jose. These will cost billions of pesos and will add to the electric bill of the customers. I believe a better option is to cancel this project and instead the LNG terminal project at Batangas and the Batangas – Manila gas pipeline including the conversion of Sucat and Malaya power plants to gas (CCGT) be given priority. This is a straight forward project as the ROW of the pipeline and plant locations are already available including power plant transmission lines. This will result to better emission compared to coal and at the same time provide stability to the grid as we increase the variable renewable energy i.e. solar and wind to our power generation mix.
In addition to Elmer Sambo’s valid comments, there are at least 4 reasons why the construction of a smokestack under the instrument landing system (ILS) of runway 07 at Subic International Airport is unsafe and conflicts with ICAO law to which the Philippines is a signatory.
1) Approaching aircraft affected by the plume velocity emitting from the smokestack.
2) The creation of a bird attractant area, caused by dead fish resulting from induction of cooling sea water and within 5 mls of the runway, is in complete disregard of ICAO aviation law.
3) The Plant project will exceed the permit limits granted by CAAP in 2008.
4) The temp inversion, prevalent in the plant area, will trap pollution particles emitted from the smokestack and exacerbate the low level of visibility at critical decision height resulting in a missed approach procedure.
There are other reasons and is why no smokestacks exist under ILS approaches worldwide.
The Americans built this ILS approach, offset it by 3 degrees to the South because of high ground and now RPEI wants to install a smokestack almost directly under the centreline of the approach in contravention of ICAO law. The location is not acceptable.