Govt rejects Subic coal plant transfer

Posted June 25th, 2012 by Alena Mae S. Flores

Manila Standard Today

The Energy Department has rejected proposals to relocate the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. to the site of mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant in Morong, Bataan due to lack of “logistical capability.”

Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the Bataan nuclear plant site was not conducive for a coal-fired power facility, which was supposed to be built at Subic Bay Freeport.

Almendras also said transferring the coal power project to Bataan from Subic Bay would push back its scheduled operation by 2015 and threaten Luzon’s power situation.

“If it will be placed there [Bataan], you will not meet the deadline. You have to dismantle some of the facilities. Remember, we had a team of experts who looked at BNPP to convert it to a coal-fired power plant. They said it was not feasible to coal-fired, and it was very expensive to convert it to a natural gas-fired power plant,” Almendras said.

“If you’re going to use that site for coal, you have to clear some areas and retrofit it,” he added.

RP Energy plans to build a 600-MW coal project at the Subic Bay Freeport but the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority asked the government to relocate the plant to another site such as Bataan. Concerned sectors in Subic have strongly opposed the project, citing health, tourism and other concerns.

RP Energy led by Meralco PowerGen Corp., a subsidiary of distributor Manila Electric Co., is the controlling shareholder of RP Energy.  Meralco PowerGen holds 50 percent plus two shares in RP Energy while Aboitiz-controlled Therma Power Inc. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. hold the remaining shares in equal proportion.

The energy chief said the unloading facility of Bataan nuclear power plant had no design for a port, which is crucial to a power plant because imported coal is delivered and unloaded at the port.

“The problem with coal, you need to be an area where you can unload the coal in huge quantities because a 600-MW coal-fired power plant will consume a lot. The problem with BNPP was the site is not the best site for a coal- fired power plant because it does not have logistical capability to handle the fuel itself,” he said.

Almendras said there were no concrete plans for the nuclear plant yet.  The Aquino government earlier announced it had no plans of reviving the plant which was shut down by former President Corazon Aquino in 1986 due to safety issues.

The $2.3-billion nuclear plant was already completed when it was shut down.