San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. (SBPL) on December 10 held the groundbreaking ceremony for its 500-megawatt (gross) power project, marking the start of construction of the country’s first supercritical coal-fired plant.

Located in Mauban, Quezon, the power plant will provide the baseload supply needed to serve electricity consumers in Luzon.

The project is a partnership between Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), the power generation arm of the Manila Electric Company, (Meralco); and New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO Group) of Thailand.
SBPL tapped the consortium of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project. The notice to proceed to the EPC was issued on 8 December 2015.

When the power generation facility begins operations in the first half of 2019, it is expected to be the country’s first power plant to utilize state-of-the-art supercritical technology.

The electricity generated by the plant will be sold to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility, under a 20-year power supply agreement that was approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this year.

The tariff of the SBPL plant is one of the most competitive for new capacities that are expected to come on-stream in the next few years.

The SBPL power plant will play a crucial role as electricity demand grows, especially in Luzon which accounts for about 70% of the country’s gross domestic product.

The development of this project represents MGen and EGCO Group’s commitment to contribute in efforts to attain energy security, which will ultimately benefit the Philippine economy.

This is also aligned with MGen’s goal to have a power generation portfolio of about 3,000 MW and significantly contribute to the growing demand for power.

SBPL entered into an omnibus agreement with a consortium of reputable local banks to provide a P42.150-billion loan for the project.

The company on November 27, 2015 held the ceremonial signing for the project funding, which is the biggest all peso project finance facility in the country to date.

The senior-term loan lenders are BDO Unibank, Inc.; China Banking Corp. (Chinabank); Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank); Philippine National Bank (PNB); and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

BDO Unibank – Trust and Investments Group served as the loan facility agent; while Metrobank – Trust Banking Group acted as collateral trustee.

Meanwhile, BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. were appointed as joint bookrunners and joint issue coordinators. Together with Chinabank, PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp., they also acted as joint lead arrangers for the transaction.

Local government officials, Thai ambassador and company executives lead groundbreaking ceremony for SBPL’s 500-MW supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban Quezon. (L-R) Quezon Governor David C. Suarez; EGCO Senior Executive Vice-President John M. Palumbo; Meralco Director and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim; EGCO PresidentChanin Chaonirattisai; Meralco President and CEO, and MGen President Oscar S. Reyes; EGCO Chairman Sombat Sarntijaree; MGen Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Aaron A. Domingo; Ambassador of Thailand to the Philippines Thanatip Upatising; Meralco Senior Vice-President and Chief Finance Officer Betty C. Siy-Yap; and Mauban Mayor Fernando Q. Llamas.

(L-R) Quezon Governor David C. Suarez; EGCO Senior Executive Vice-President John M. Palumbo; Meralco Director and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim; EGCO PresidentChanin Chaonirattisai; Meralco President and CEO, and MGen President Oscar S. Reyes; EGCO Chairman Sombat Sarntijaree; MGen Executive Vice-President and COO Aaron A. Domingo; , Ambassador of Thailand to the Philippines Thanatip Upatising; Meralco Senior Vice-President and Chief Finance Officer Betty C. Siy-Yap; and Mauban Mayor Fernando Q. Llamas.