SMC Global Power Holdings (SMCGP), the power arm of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), is investing Php41.5 billion to develop its 600-megawatt (MW) liquefied natural gas (LNG) combined-cycle power plant in Tabango, Leyte.
Based on a document it submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the LNG plant will be housed in a 26-hectare property inside East Genesis Landholdings, Inc.’s 56.8-hectare complex located close to the island’s northwestern shore. Prestige Power Resources, Inc. (PRRI) – the plant’s developer – as well as East Genesis are SMCGP subsidiaries.
Construction is seen to begin in the third quarter, while commercial operations is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2025.
Based on data from the Department of Energy (DOE), the Tabango plant will host eight 75MW generators. The DOE had endorsed the project to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines for system impact study.
PRRI said that the power plant would help the country meet the growing demand for electricity, which is seen to reach 49,287MW by 2040, according to the DOE’s Power Development Plan.
“As required by the DOE, the proponent will develop a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective energy source. PRRI proposes to use LNG – the cleanest of all fossil fuels to provide energy in a manner that is safe to the environment,” SMC Global Power said in its DENR filing.
SMC Global Power, the country’s second largest power generator, is also building a 300MW LNG plant worth Php 18.5 billion in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
Last year, SMC said it would ramp up its LNG and renewable energy ventures instead of pursuing coal plant projects. The DOE implemented a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants in October 2020.
SMC Global Power’s profit declined by 15% in 2021.