Meralco’s Singapore plant eyes upturn in H2

Pacific Light Power Pte. Ltd., the operating affiliate and subsidiary of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for its power generation portfolio in Singapore, may start contributing to Meralco’s bottom line by the second half of this year, according to company chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“It’s still a loss, but it started getting better in the first half,” he said when asked about the financial outcome of its power generation’s offshore operations. He similarly indicated expectations of better performance throughout the second half of the year.

The 800-megawatt Singapore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant has been in operation for 18 months already as of end-June this year.

“Pacific Light has been generating EBITDA-positive financial results almost throughout the first half of 2015,” Meralco documents have shown.

The company has qualified though that “the foreign exchange impact of the recently weakening Singapore dollar against the US dollar has, to some extent affected EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).”

The utility firm has emphasized that “the refinancing of PacificLight’s long-term debts before the end of 2014 has contributed to the stability of its cash position.”

It was further culled that, “Pacific Light has secured over 9.0% of the retail market on top of the vesting contract volume,” in the Singapore power market.

The company has noted that their operations there had been highly competitive “given the significant excess capacity in the Singapore electricity market.”

Beyond its overseas portfolio, the power generation arm of Meralco is also intensifying focus on domestic expansion with several of its power projects finally moving to the construction phase.

Ahead in the race is the 460-megawatt San Buenaventura power project in Mauban, Quezon which is a joint venture with Thai firm EGCO.

The company is similarly advancing on its 1,200MW Atimonan power project; while the transmission line hurdle at its 600MW Subic power venture is currently being resolved.