SMC cool to propose conversion of Malaya plant into LNG facility

SAN MIGUEL CORP. (SMC) is not keen on bidding for the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya thermal power plant if the condition is for its conversion into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, the top official of the conglomerate’s power unit said.

“Wala kaming [ We don’t have] plans for LNG. You need a lot of infrastructure — storage, conveyance, logistics,” said Alan T. Ortiz, president of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., on the sidelines of a recent forum on energy issues.

He described the proposed LNG conversion as “very challenging” because of the Malaya plant’s location in Pililia, Rizal.

Malaya thermal power plant has two units. The first one, at 300 MW, was commissioned in August 1975 and the second in April 1979. State agency Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) owns the asset. Fired by bunker fuel, the plant is operated by the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Latest data covering 2014 shows the plant’s first unit to have a dependable capacity of 60.61 MW, while the second unit has 307.23 MW, for a total of 367.84 MW.

The bidding for the thermal power plant might go back to square one after the Department of Energy (DoE) in February said it was looking at adding a new condition for the bidders: the conversion of the facility into an LNG plant.

Four companies — Global, Inc., Phinma Energy Corp., Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corp. and AC Energy Holdings Inc. — are interested in the plant and have submitted “letters of interest” by the Dec. 20, 2016 deadline.

There was talk at that time was SMC was interested but failed to submit the documents by deadline.