First Gen still gearing up for 2016 San Gabriel plant comm’l operation

Despite moving schedules, First Gen Corporation is still gearing up for commercial commissioning of its 414megawatt San Gabriel power plant next year.

Department of Energy (DOE) assistant director Irma Exconde said the First Gen plant may be pushed back a bit compared to an earlier declared commercial operations date.

She stressed “implementation targets have been moving.” The energy department indicated though that the plant is still eyed to add to grid capacity next year.

When asked, First Gen senior vice president Victor B. Santos has emphasized that the commercial operation timeline they have given to the DOE is still June, 2016.

“San Gabriel will still come on-line by 2016,” he said, noting that the target is still second quarter. First Gen’s other new power project – the 97MW Avion aeroderivative facility – slightly slipped on its commercial commissioning. Instead of June this year, the DOE noted that the new target will be this month.

The San Gabriel plant is the first of a three-phased power plant development that will further beef up the Lopez group’s gas-fed capacity by more than 1,200 megawatts.

The next one is the planned Sta. Maria plant of the same capacity which the company has been pushing forward to reach commercial operations by 2018-2019.

The third one will be firmed up later when the Lopez firm already identifies its gas source with the much-anticipated production slump or depletion of the Malampaya field.

The latest round of these gas-fired power plant developments are seen going in tandem with the blueprinted liquefied natural gas (LNG) handling facility that the Lopez group will be embarking on.