The Batangas – based San Gabriel gas – fired power plant has started commercial operations after obtaining its regulatory clearance.
First Gen Corp disclosed that they have received a certificate of compliance (COC) from the Regulatory Commission for the 414 megawatt (MW) San Gabriel plant.
The San Gabriel plant is expected to supply stable power in Luzon and Visayas.
“The flex-plant is designed to provide baseload, mid-merit and peaking power dependent on the grid’s demand requirements. This project is vital to First Gen’s planned entry into the LNG (liquefied natural gas) supply business in preparation for the eventual depletion of natural gas from Malampaya,” First Gen president and COO Giles Puno said.
The COC was granted to First Gen’s subsidiary First NatGas Power Corp who owns and operates the plant.
The COC is proof that the San Gabriel power plant complied with the technical and financial requirements before operating a power plant, the company said.
The Philippine Electricity Market Corp (PEMC) has also acknowledged the change in status of the plant to commercial operation – this enables the plant to sell its output to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“As part of our commitment to develop competitively-priced and clean sources of energy, we are pleased to announce that the 414-MW San Gabriel power plant has obtained its certificate of compliance – the last pre-requisite to commerciality under the WESM,” Puno said.
San Gabriel runs on natural gas that is known to be the cleanest among fossil fuels. The plant’s operation results in 70 percent lower carbon emissions versus coal – fired power plants.
Natural Gas Combined Cycle Plant Compatibility with Variable Renewable Energy – While variable renewable generation, such as wind and solar without energy storage, do not incur fuel supply risks in the way that conventional power plants do, they do experience dynamic resource variability along the minute-to-minute, hour-by-hour, and longer timescales. From the utility and regulator reliability planning perspective, wind and solar only provide low capacity value, which decreases with increasing penetration on the system. This capacity can only be dispatched within the limits of resource availability. Complementary Operation: Natural gas combined cycle plant generated power can be dispatched flexibly, which offers more capacity for system reliability. The quick ramping ability of natural gas generators makes them ideal for complementing variable renewable generation. This flexibility may generate additional value as new ancillary service products are designed to accommodate increasing levels of variable generation on the grid and new regional capacity or other ancillary services markets are developed to meet future reliability needs. A balanced electricity portfolio of both natural gas and renewable energy assets can adjust generation shares based on continuous optimization of resource availability, fuel costs, and emission requirements. Putting up more natural gas combined cycle plant like the San Gabriel plant is a step in the right direction in promoting use of renewable energy.