EWC’s Pagbilao gas power plant faces delay

MANILA, Philippines - The first unit of the 600-megawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant of Energy World Corp., an Australia-listed energy company, in Pagbilao, Quezon will be slightly delayed and may not be ready in time for the summer of 2015 as originally scheduled.

The first unit involves 200 MW, with the rest of the 600 MW to be developed up to 2017.

Sources told The STAR that the delivery of the plant’s turbines had been postponed twice but company officials have assured the Department of Energy (DOE) they are addressing the problem and working double-time to have the plant ready as soon as possible.

In January 2014, EWC said the 200 MW first unit could be running by the end of this year. In March 2014, the company said the commissioning would be moved to June 2015 because of the delays in the delivery of the plant’s turbines.

As of end-June 2014, however, EWC has yet to give a new timetable for the plant’s commissioning.

The STAR’s e-mails sent to EWC’s office in Hong Kong remained unanswered as of press time.

EWC chief executive Stewart Elliot was earlier quoted by Reuters as saying that the company expects to operate by early 2015.

“We expect to be ready to operate at the end of this year or early 2015,” Elliot said.

DOE officials were likewise unavailable for comment as of press time but in its latest list of 2015 committed power projects, the EWC project has been removed.

In a February list of committed projects, the DOE included EWC’s first unit but in its latest list as of end-July, the DOE removed EWC due to the uncertain timetable.

Delays in power plant operations are common in the Philippines because of permitting problems and uncertain delivery of equipment from abroad.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has been pushing for the declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector to avert a looming power shortage next year.

This will be possible by invoking Sec. 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

He said the Philippines will need 9,011 megawattsMW of power next year, higher than this year’s demand of 8,717 MW on the back of the projected growth in the economy.

The declaration of a state of emergency would allow the government, through the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), to tap additional power capacity for the summer of 2015.

Under the plan, PSALM will rent diesel-fired power facilities on short-term contracts of two years, if possible.

The EPIRA prohibits the government from constructing new power plants.

However, Sec. 71 states that the President, upon determination of an imminent shortage of supply of electricity, may ask for Congress authority through a joint resolution, to establish additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions may approve.