Construction of VEC power plants to start in 2022

BY LENIE LECTURA – NOVEMBER 11, 2021
from Business Mirror

Vivant Energy Corp. (VEC) and Gigawatt Power Inc. (GPI) will start next year the construction of two power projects in Pampanga and Palawan worth almost P2 billion.

GPI President Walden Tantuico said construction of the 3 x 5.76-megawatt (MW) diesel-fueled power plant in Porac, Pampanga is scheduled to commence in the first half of next year while the hybrid plants in Culion and Linapacan Islands will begin sometime during the first quarter of 2022.

“For the Pelco 2 [Pampanga II Electric Cooperative] project, I think construction will already be starting soon, first half of 2022. The same goes for Culion and Linapacan projects as well, within the first quarter of next year. Those two are in the immediate pipeline,” said Tantuico.

VEC and GPI each own 50-percent equity in the power plant project. Once operational, the power plant will supply 15MW to PELCO 2 for 15 years. VEC and GPI earlier won the bidding for PELCO II’s power supply contract.

VEC Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emil Andre Garcia said the project cost is “around P800 million for Culion and PELCO should be around P1.1 billion.”

“We’re also looking at the power needs of PALECO and Puerto Princesa as well. Another project I’d like to highlight is Culion with BISELCO [Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative]. We’re hoping to break ground by early next year. That plant really excites us because that’s a hybrid plant that we’re developing in Culion and Linapacan,” he said.

The P800-million power project will also have a battery component of 2.3MWh. For the solar and diesel components, Garcia said the capacity is close to 3 MW for both diesel and solar.

GPI and Vivant Integrated Diesel Corp. (VIDC) have just turned on their P1.6-billion power plant in Barangay Kabangbang Bantayan Island, Cebu.

The testing and commissioning of the 23.2MW diesel power plant was done last month. Both firms formed Isla Norte Energy Corp. (INEC) to operate and maintain the plant, which will supply power to Bantayan Electric Cooperative Inc. (BANELCO) for 15 years.

VEC separately said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that the Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Provisional Authority to INEC so it can already start supplying to BANELCO.

Also, Garcia said VEC is embarking on an aggressive expansion of its portfolio, particularly in the renewable energy (RE) space, to help achieve its goal of hitting a 30-percent RE by 2030. “We want to have at least 30 percent of our portfolio on RE. So, over the next couple of years, we want to build over 300 megawatts of renewable plants, particularly solar and wind.”