First Gen taps $265-M credit facility for San Gabriel natural gas-fired plant

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-owned power generation firm First Gen Corp. has signed a $265-million export credit facility with KfW IPEX-Bank of Germany to partially finance the 414-megawatt San Gabriel natural gas-fired power project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), First Gen said the credit facility will have a tenor 13.7 years.

This facility has an export credit guarantee provided by Euler Hermes, acting on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. The proceeds of the loan will be used primarily to finance the eligible German and non-German goods and services under the equipment supply contract of the San Gabriel power plant with Siemens AG, the equipment supplier, First Gen said.

First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said the construction

of the 414-MW San Gabriel plant is progressing, with site preparation and piling activity in Batangas City.

The company is targeting to commission the plant in the first half of 2016.

“We need to make sure that the plant is built and commissioned on time as it will provide much-needed additional supply to the Luzon grid in the first half of 2016. Although it is envisioned to run on a mid-merit basis, if needed, it can also run on base load,” Puno said.

The San Gabriel project is one of three similar units that First Gen is developing in Batangas City totaling 1,350 MW.

“We have started pre-development activities for future units that will enable us to accelerate their development and provide additional capacity to the Luzon grid in 2017 due to its tight supply situation. This will also be dependent on the availability of additional natural gas from the Malampaya field before imported liquefied natural gas can possibly be delivered in the 2019 or 2020   timeframe,” Puno said.

At present, First Gen has a capacity of 2,763 MW or approximately 25 percent of total installed capacity in the country.

In addition to the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo power facilities, First Gen is pioneering the development of additional gas-fired power plants as well as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal facility.  It also owns two hydroelectric power plants with a combined capacity of 132 MW, the company said.