San Miguel Corp. (SMC) power unit SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. has dropped plans to put up three new clean-coal power plants with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts (MW) in favor of more renewable energy projects.
“We’re executing on our plans to move away from building new coal facilities despite new technologies that make them cleaner. It’s a company direction that is in line with all the major sustainability initiatives we have undertaken these past couple of years,” said Ramon Ang, SMC president.
In a statement over the weekend, Ang said the company will still maintain a diverse power portfolio to utilize both renewables and traditional power sources from proven technologies to ensure affordability and reliability of electricity as the country transitions to cleaner sources.
Ang said SMC Global Power will put up solar plants equipped with battery storage facilities at 10 locations throughout the country. These are are set to be operational by 2023.
The company is preparing to build a 1,300 MW liquified natural gas (LNG) combined cycle plant in Batangas City which will electricity to Manila Electric Co. over the next 20 years, beginning 2024.
SMC is also set to build small-scale LNG plants in eight to 10 islands in the Visayas and Mindanao to boost rural electrification while also lining up several hydroelectric power plants in Luzon.
SMC is also constructing 31 battery energy storage system facilities all over the country that will have a total capacity of 1,000 MW and are set to be completed until next year. The company defended that putting up such project will fix power quality issues in the grid and will also allow the integration of over 3,000 MW of intermittent renewable power sources.
SMC’s power arm has the second biggest share in installed generating capacity in the entire country at 4,856 MW equivalent to 20.7 percent of the total 23,409.7 MW. – J. Macapagal
