Aboitiz Power to supply Meralco with additional 95MW

Aboitiz Power Corp. will soon supply power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) with an additional 95 megawatts (MW) of power. Earlier, Meralco requested for an added power supply from its transition supply contract with state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor). Napocor agreed to provide power to Meralco through Therma Luzon Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Power. Last year, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. awarded the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contracts of the 700-MW Pagbilao coal-fired power plant to Therma Luzon. Therma Luzon has contractual obligations to sell power as part of its IPPA agreement with the government. The Aboitiz firm said the additional 95 MW will be made available to Meralco at all hours, starting Sept. 23 until Dec. 31, 2011, or 12 months after the start of open access, whichever comes first. Assuming the supply ends on Dec. 31 of next year, Therma Luzon should have delivered 877,800 MWh to Meralco. “Aboitiz Power has always preferred selling its power via bilateral contracts at a fair and reasonable price. This paves the way for predictable revenues for the company," said Aboitiz Power senior vice president Luis Miguel Aboitiz. Aboitiz Power is a major producer of renewable energy in the country with several hydroelectric and geothermal assets in its generation portfolio. The non-renewable portfolio consists of coal-fired power plants throughout the country. The company is planning to put up new coal plants in Subic and Davao. — JE/OMG, GMANews.TV