Government to shut down Tegen power plant, sell land

The government will scrap the 200 megawatt (MW) Manila thermal (Tegen) power plant from the list of power plants to be sold by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) once it is privatized, it was learned over the weekend.

Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez told reporters that the oil-fired power plant’s location at present "is posing a threat to both environment and nearby communities. This move is good for urban renewal."

Instead, he said they would formally decommission the plant and treat it as a mere real estate property. "We will just sell it as a real estate property," he said.

The plant is located in Manila on Isla del Provisor in the Pasig River, adjacent to the Blaisdell Station.

Napocor sources said at present, they maintain a skeleton force to operate the plant.

According to sources, the decommissioning of the Tegen plant is a result of the rise in the number of coal power plants that have been opened during the power crisis in the late 1990s. Before the plant was temporarily shut down 12 years ago, it was considered one of the most efficient oil-fired power plants in the country and was operating at its full capacity of 200 MW.

Tegen, which started engineering works in January 1963, has a total capacity of 200 MW or two units of 100 MW. Unit 1 started operation in July 1965 with a cost of P84.07 million while unit 2 commenced operations in late 1966 at a cost of P75.69 million.

The power facility was a former Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) plant purchased by the government on Jan. 1, 1979.

The sale of Tegen as a real estate property was part of the discussions conducted recently by Perez with the natural gas industry stakeholders. Tegen is one of the power plants being eyed to be converted to natural gas-fired facility.

But Perez said they have decided to just shut down the plant permanently due to some environmental issues being raised against it.

He said this is also part of the government’s thrust to do away with the use of fuel and enhance the utilization of indigenous sources of energy such as geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and coal. –Donnabelle Gatdula