San Miguel unit takes over Sual coal-fired plant in Pangasinan

SUAL POWER, INC. (SPI) has taken over the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Sual Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant in Pangasinan province after the contract between TeaM Energy Corp. and the government expired.

In a statement at the weekend, TeaM Energy said it handed over the power plant to the government through the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), and National Power Corp. (Napocor) on Oct. 25.

“For the past year, there has been close coordination with Napocor, PSALM and SPI to ensure a seamless transition process,” said Mitsuhiro Kojima, officer-in-charge at TeaM Energy. “The plant has been turned over in excellent condition, ready to continue generating electricity for the Luzon grid.”

SPI, a unit of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP) and the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) of the Sual facility, received the power plant from PSALM.

The power plant, the largest coal-fired power plant in the Philippines in terms of installed capacity, has been providing power to the Luzon grid since 1999 under a 25-year build-operate-transfer scheme that ended this year.

SPI, formerly known as San Miguel Electric Corp., entered an agreement with PSALM in 2009 allowed it to serve as the administrator of the Sual Power Plant.

SPI has the contractual right to manage, control, trade, sell or otherwise deal in up to 1,000 MW of the generation capacity of the power plant, according to SMGP.

After the transfer of the plant from TeaM Energy to PSALM, SPI then took over ownership of the plant, pursuant to the IPPA agreement.

“For more than 25 years, the Sual Power Station has contributed to the development of the Philippines by generating reliable, cost-effective energy that has energized homes, factories, offices, schools, and hospitals,” Mr. Kojima said.

The Sual plant was built in the 1990s to address growing power demand amid an energy crisis. Construction started in 1996, and the plant began operating three years later.

TeaM Energy, one of the country’s largest independent power producers, is a partnership between Japanese groups Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Marubeni Corp.

The company will continue to operate the 735-MW Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon province. It also has a 50% stake in the 420-MW Pagbilao Unit 3 power project. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera