Limay power station

{{#badges:CoalSwarm|Navbar-Philippinescoal}} Limay power station is a 450-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station under construction in Limay, Bataan, in the Philippines. A further 150 MW is under development.

Location

The photo shows the project in Barangay Lamao, Limay, Bataan Province.

Loading map...

{"type":"SATELLITE","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","visitedicon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"wmsoverlay":false,"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":17,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"markercluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","enablefullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":14.5204064,"lon":120.6026809,"icon":""}]}

Background

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is currently building the first four units of a six-unit, three-phase coal-fired power plant with a total planned capacity of 900 MW in Limay Province. According to an August 2013 situationer by the Philippines Department of Energy (DOE), the status of the three phases is as follows:

• Phase I: On-going securing of permits and other regulatory requirements; SEC issued last 19 August 2011; Land acquisition completed; On-going electric power supply contract negotiation with prospective off-takers; On-going negotiations for financing arrangements; Target construction July 2013; Project cost is $622M / Php25.5B
• Phase II: On-going negotiation on land acquisition; On-going securing of permits and other regulatory requirements; On-going negotiations for financing arrangements
• Phase III: On-going negotiation on land acquisition; On-going securing of permits and other regulatory requirements; On-going negotiations for financing arrangements

In January 2014, the Manila Standard Today reported that SMC had begun initial construction, and had selected Formosa Heavy Industries as its engineering, procurement, and construction contractor. In August 2014, construction was reportedly well underway, with the company claiming it was on track to complete Phases I and II in 2016 and 2017. In October 2014, SMC placed an order with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems for steam turbines and generators for Units 3 and 4.

According to the Manila Times, unit 1 is planned for 2016 and unit 6 in 2020.

The project will use a combination of local and imported coal, and will include a jetty for receiving coal.

Financing for Phase I is being provided by Mizuho Bank, Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank, and SMC CPC’s equity. According to the sponsor: "SMC CPC is required to prepare and submit an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), in accordance with applicable environmental and social performance standards such as Equator Principles (EP), International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and World Bank (WB) Environment, Health, Safety (EHS) Guidelines, in order to meet the requirements of international lenders.

In February 2016, the company released an environmental and social impact assessment that described the project as 4 x 150 MW in size. It appears that Phase III has been abandoned.

In August 2016 it was reported that construction of the first 150-MW unit was underway with a target completion date of mid-2017. The second 150-MW unit is planned for operation three to four months later.

As of January 2017, the first unit was being tested. The construction timetable had been pushed back, with completion of Unit 1 scheduled for May 2017, and Unit 2 for August. Units 3 and 4 would be completed in 2018.

According to the DOE, Unit 1 entered commercial operation in May 2017 and Unit 2 did so in September 2017.

According to the DOE Unit 3 is scheduled to be commissioned in December 2018, and Unit 4 in February 2019. Unit 3 was commissioned on March 26, 2018.

Biomass conversion

In October 2018 SMC announced that it would convert its existing power plants using CFB technology into biomass power facilities, including its coal-fired plants in Limay and Malita.

Violations

In December 2016 and January 2017, the Environmental Management Bureau and the Office of the DENR secretary hit SMC with violation notices, stating that the plant's testing operations had potentially resulted in ash spills into a waterway, and that fly ash from the plant had been reported as causing respiratory problems among local residents. SMC said that they were deploying doctors to the local community and that they had "stopped dumping ash". In spite of this, the company issued a press release in February 2017 congratulating itself on the low emissions level of the new plant. That report did not mention the pollution problems several months earlier.

Project Details

• Sponsor: SMC Consolidated Power Corp.
• Location: Brgy. Lamao, Limay, Bataan
• Coordinates: 14.5204064, 120.6026809 (exact)
• Status: Units 1 & 2: Operating; Unit 3: Operating; Unit 4: Construction; Units 5 & 6: Cancelled
• Gross Capacity:
  • Phase I: 300 MW (2 x 150 MW)
  • Phase II: 300 MW (2 x 150 MW)
  • Phase III: 300 MW (2 x 150 MW)
• Type: Subcritical
• Projected in service: Units 1 & 2: 2017; Unit 3: 2018; Unit 4: 2019
• Coal Type:
• Coal Source: Imported and domestic
• Source of financing: Mizuho Bank, Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank, and SMC CPC’s equity

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Philippines and coal