MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGen), the power generation arm of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), expects to deliver 10,346 megawatts (MW) of net sellable capacity and 5,288 MW of attributable capacity over the next five years, according to its president.
This would double the company’s current net sellable capacity of 5,068 MW and attributable capacity of 2,559 MW from its Philippine and Singapore operations, MGen President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said in a Viber message over the weekend.
Mr. Rubio attributed the anticipated increase to its “growth projects,” such as the MTerra Solar Project, which consists of a 3,500-MW solar farm paired with a 4,500-MW-hour battery energy storage system.
“MGen is set to exceed its 1,500-MW attributable renewable energy capacity goal by 2027, three years ahead of the original 2030 timeline,” he said.
The company is also banking on the 1,200-MW Atimonan coal-fired power plant in Quezon province and the 73-MW Toledo coal-fired power plant in Cebu. Other assets include Excellent Energy Resources, Inc.’s Unit 4 in Batangas and PacificLight Power Pte. Ltd.’s 600-MW gas-fired power facility in Singapore.
For the first half, MGen delivered a total of 12,644 gigawatt-hours of energy, a 66% increase compared to the same period last year.
“This significant growth was driven by improved dispatch across our plants, consistently high plant availability, increased capacity contributions, particularly with the successful integration of Chromite Gas Holdings, and our team’s continued commitment to operational excellence and reliability across the portfolio,” Mr. Rubio said.
Meralco’s power generation business accounted for 37% of its total earnings in the six-month period, which rose by 10% to P25.54 billion.
Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Meralco, said the power distributor is on track to hit its target bottom line of P50 billion for this year.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
