Quezon power station

{{#badges:CoalSwarm|Navbar-Philippinescoal}}Quezon power station is a 940-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Quezon Province, the Philippines.

Location

The photograph below shows the plant, in Cagsiay I Barangay, Mauban Municipality, Quezon Province.

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Background on Plant

Quezon power station is a single-united 440-MW coal-fired power plant in Quezon Province. The plant is owned by Quezon Power Philippines, a subsidiary of Thai company EGCO Group. The plant occupies 87 hectares in the municipality of Mauban, Quezon Province, with a 31-kilometer transmission line that links into the national transmission network.

Description of Expansion

A consortium is currently building a second coal-fired unit with a planned capacity of 455 MW (previously described as 460 MW) at the site. The second unit is sponsored by San Buenaventura Power, a joint venture that is jointly owned by Meralco PowerGen Corporation (a subsidiary of MERALCO) and EGCO Group. The project was initially considered in 2007, was then dropped, and was picked up again in 2012.

The project's sponsors applied for an amendment to the project's original 2007 environmental permit in June 2013; that permit is apparently still outstanding. Final financing arrangements are not expected to be lined up until final permits are issued. As of October 2014, sponsors were apparently also still negotiation the engineering, procurement, & construction (EPC) contract with potential contractors; San Buenaventura Power stated at that time that it was planning to proceed with construction in early 2015, and to complete the plant by Summer 2018. San Buenaventura also hopes to raise up to P40 billion ($900 million) in debt markets once permits are in hand and the EPC contract is negotiated.

In February 2015, it was reported that the sponsors were seeking to have the construction of the plant fast tracked. According to the report, the sponsors were still finalizing a contract for engineering, procurement, and construction and that the project was targeted for 2018. The size of the expansion was now described as 455 MW.

In May 2015, the Power Supply Agreement received approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

In November 2015 Meralco said it was still searching for prospective partners for construction of the plant. Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the project would require a partnership with a foreign firm to spread any possible risk “with the partner likely Japanese or Korean and probably not Chinese.” The power project, estimated at US$2 billion (P94.41 billion), would be undertaken by Atimonan One Energy.

In December 2015 it was reported that ground-breaking ceremonies had been held on December 10, with Daelim Industrial Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. serving as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor. Commercial operations were planned by mid-2019. Senior-term loan lenders were reported to be BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp.; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.; Philippine National Bank; and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. BDO Unibank-Trust and Investments Group was the loan facility agent, and Metrobank-Trust Banking Group acted as collateral trustee. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. are joint bookrunners and joint issue coordinators. BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., Chinabank, PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and RCBC Capital Corp. were joint lead arrangers for the transaction.

In October 2017 it was reported that construction of the 455 MW coal plant in Quezon province was more than halfway completed, with the project on track to start commercial operations by mid-2019. In May 2018 it was reported that construction was 84% complete and that commercial operations might begin a few months later in 2019, due to delays caused by Tropical Depression Maring in September 2017 and Tropical storm Urduja in December 2017.

In September 2018 the Department of Energy listed a scheduled commissioning date of December 2019. In March 2019 the Department of Energy reported that construction was 98.15% complete as of January 31, 2019. Unit 2 was commissioned in October 2019. The Philippine DOE and various news reports now describe it as a 500-MW unit instead of 445 MW.

Project Details for Unit 2 Expansion

• Sponsor: San Buenaventura Power
• Parent company: MERALCO and EGCO Group
• Location: Cagsiay I Barangay, Mauban Municipality, Quezon Province, Philippines
• Coordinates: 14.2296, 121.7558 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Gross Capacity: 500 MW
• Type: Supercritical
• In service: 2019
• Coal Type: Subbituminous
• Coal Source:
• Source of financing: BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp.; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.; Philippine National Bank; and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Articles and resources

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