MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is pouring in P424 million in the renewable energy unit of power generation arm Meralco Powergen Corp. (MGen) to finance its pipeline of solar project developments.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Meralco said its board approved the request of MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) for equity funding.
Meralco will invest a total of P424.2 million to bankroll solar projects under development.
These projects have a combined capacity of 210 megawatts (MW) and a total estimated project cost of P10.01 billion.
MGen president and chief executive officer Rogelio Singson said the projects are in line with the company’s commitment to develop large-scale renewable energy projects that will provide reliable, environment-friendly power at competitive prices without the need for subsidy.
“We believe that now is the time to focus on building our green energy capacity and we intend to be a key player in the renewable energy space. We also hope to contribute to the country’s transition towards sustainable energy,” Singson said.
Earlier this year, the Meralco group formed MGreen to pursue the development of 1,000 MW of green energy projects in the next five to seven years.
The newly formed unit will serve as the platform for the strategic push to develop renewable energy projects, primarily solar, wind and run-of-river hydro.
“MGen, through MGreen, will continue working on the realization of our project opportunities and will work in partnership with established developers to maximize our growth potential,” Singson said.
Meralco said the new unit would bring in additional supply to support the Philippines’ growth momentum and help ensure availability of green and cost-competitive power supply in the coming years.
“Meralco is committed to developing large-scale renewable energy projects that can deliver competitive electricity for our customers, without any requirement for subsidy or support, while keeping environmental stewardship and sustainability as top priorities in our business,” president and chief executive officer Ray Espinosa said earlier.
Besides advancing renewable energy prospects, MGen is also focused on utilizing high efficiency, low emission (HELE) technology for its baseload power plants.
It has completed the 455-MW (net) San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. (SBPL) power plant in Mauban, Quezon, which is in partnership with Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd.
The power project started commissioning in April, which boosted the power supply in the Luzon grid in time for the summer months and mid-term election.
The SBPL project is touted as the first supercritical coal-fired plant.