MRC Allied eyes power generation for LNG facility

MRC Allied, Inc. may choose to participate only in the power plant component of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility that it is studying to build with a foreign partner, its top official said.

“We are given an option to just be part of the [ power] generation,” Gladys N. Nalda, MRC Allied president and chief executive officer, told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders meeting on Monday.

However, she said the company remains open to joining the “entire chain,” which would include an import terminal, regasifying facility, power generation and a distribution pipeline.

“The capacity is big and the partner is big so we are looking into the feasibility — checking the place, looking at the costing, the suppliers… It’s something that needs to be studied for a long period of time,” Ms. Nalda said.

She declined to disclose the target capacity and location of the power plant because of a nondisclosure agreement that the company signed with its Chinese partner.

“Hypothetically, if I’m going to say yes, probably somewhere in Luzon because of logistics — kasi currently meron kami Luzon ( because we currently have presence in Luzon),” the company official said.

In November last year, MRC Allied signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Energy Engineering Corp. Ltd. ( CEEC) “to confirm that both parties have an interest in exploring the possibility of investing, constructing, developing and operating [LNG] projects in the Philippines.”

It described CEEC as a foreign company based in Beijing, China, which is engaged in the business of exploration, development and construction of energy projects.

Also in the same month, MRC Allied signed a separate MoU with Guangdong Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (GPEC) to explore LNG projects in the country.

Ms. Nalda said she was hopeful that by the end of the quarter, the company would be able to disclose “something more concrete.”

MALL PROJECT

MRC Allied is also targeting within the year to install solar rooftop panels, with a capacity of 4 megawatts (MW), on a number of malls operated by Xentro Mall Developer Inc.

“But we will go back to the table with them if they could give us more sites,” she said, adding that the four malls that were presented for solar rooftop installation would not be enough to reach the company’s target capacity.

She said Xentro Mall is asking for a lower project cost, which MRC Allied could agree to if given more solar capacity to build.

Ms. Nalda also said that the company is targeting to commission within the year “not less 20 MW” of its 60-MW solar project in Naga City, Cebu.

MRC Allied, which diversified from property to energy development early last year, plans to invest between P80 billion and P100 billion in 10 years to achieve its aspirational goal of putting up 10,000 MW of power capacity.

On Monday, shares in the company slipped 1.59% to close at P0.62 each. —