MANILA, May 3 (Reuters) - Aboitiz Power Corp ,
one of the Philippines' biggest electricity producers, is
looking at adding 1,200 megawatts to its capacity through a
liquefied natural gas venture, President and CEO Emmanuel Rubio
said on Wednesday.
The company, partly owned by Japan's biggest power generator
JERA, is undertaking feasibility studies for a liquefied natural
gas (LNG) project before finalising the investment, Rubio told
local news channel ANC in an interview.
The project will likely include an imported LNG terminal,
which he said might be built in Pagbilao in the Quezon province
on the main Luzon island, where it operates coal-fired power
plants.
"There are a number of options, a number of plant
configurations. Should we go for 1,200 (MW) right away or do 600
first? All of these are actually now being considered," he said.
The LNG-fired plant could come in to meet baseload
requirement by 2028 to 2030, he said.
The Philippines' energy department has approved seven LNG
terminal projects, including two facilities scheduled to operate
starting this year to fuel existing power plants that ran on the
country's dwindling Malampaya natural gas output.
Aboitiz is also studying venturing into nuclear energy and
has been in talks with a number of small modular reactor (SMR)
technology providers, including U.S.-based NuScale Power Corp , Rubio said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has reopened talks on
repowering the mothballed 620 MW Bataan Nuclear Power Plant as
an option in pursuing a nuclear energy program, has said the
Philippines needs to consider other technologies to address its
power supply shortfalls.
Marcos on Monday met with NuScale executives in the U.S., as
the company was planning to conduct a study to locate a site for
its SMR system in the Philippines, according to the President's
communications office.
A NuScale spokesperson did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; additional reporting
by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
