Following your posting I came across two more articles, one dated 4 June, 2014 and one dated 10 June, 2014 (see below). The first article refers to approvals being given to the 600MW power plant and lng hub. Of special interest to EWC shareholders may be the comment (4th paragraph), that the construction of power plants is a flagship project under President Aquino’s administration. The second article, posted on the LNG World News webpage seems to same as the one posted by PalmTree. Quezon SP approves expansion of Pagbilao power plant Business Mirror 04 Jun 2014 Written by John Bello / Correspondent LUCENA CITY—The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Quezon has approved the expansion of the existing 764-megawatt (MW) Pagbilao coal-fired power plant with an additional 400 MW inside its own facility. It also approved the construction of a liquefied natural-gas terminal hub, and a 650-MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant, all in Barangay Ibabang Polo, Pagbilao, Quezon. SP member Donaldo “Jet” Suarez sponsored the approval of the three resolutions for the power-expansion project, and the two other power-project facilities run by Energy World Corp. All were unanimously seconded by his colleagues at the SP regular session on May 26 presided by Vice Gov. Sam Nantes. In his brief privilege speech, Suarez, elder brother of the incumbent Gov. David “Jayjay” Suarez, explained the need for the power-plant expansion due to the “rotating brownout,” which could be experienced by the country with the shortfall of power supply next year. “We are blessed with two power plants in our province, and the power-project expansion in Pagbilao could make us the ‘power province’ in the country,” said Suarez, the SP committee chairman on energy. He said construction of power plants is a flagship project under President Aquino’s administration. Aside from the Pagbilao power plant constructed in the mid-1980s and now operated by TeaM Energy Corp. (TEC), Quezon province also hosts another 400-MW coal-fired power plant in Barangay Cagsiay in Mauban, operated by Quezon Power Philippine Ltd. The titles of the three SP resolutions, copies of which reached the BusinessMirror only on Tuesday, bear uncanny similarities with the resolutions passed by the Sangguniang Bayan of Pagbilao and the Sangguniang Barangay of Iba, Polo. Resolution 2014-2368 states “it is a resolution ‘interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation of a 400-MW power plant by TeaM Energy Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. as an expansion of its existing 2x382-MW Pagbilao coal-fired power plant located in Barangay Iba, Polo, Pagbilao, Quezon.’” Resolution 2014-2369 states it is a resolution “interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation by Energy World Corp. of an LNG terminal hub and storage facility with a maximum annual storage capacity not to exceed 1 million tons of liquefied natural gas.” Resolution 2014-2370 states it is a resolution “interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation by Energy World Corp. of a 650-MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant.” SP member Ferdinand Talabong, previously critical of the Pagbilao power-plant expansion project, expressed no objection this time and even described the passing of the resolution on the Pagbilao power-plant expansion as “urgent.” In September last year Talabong alerted his colleagues on the planned power-supply expansion of the Pagbilao power plant in his privilege speech, in which he asked for a clarification particularly on the previous controversial issue of the P6-billion real-property taxes it owed the province as decided by the Supreme Court, but which was reduced by the national government to a mere 15 percent of the entire sum. Talabong said the 400-MW expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant is like putting up a new power- plant facility so it may need a new franchise or a new memorandum of agreement. Another colleague, Fourth District Board Member Manuel Butardo, stood up last year at the SP regular session to express his concern about the new expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant. “Masyado naman yata nalalagay sa alanganin ang Quezon sa planong expansion ng Pagbilao power plant. Ano nangyari sa desisyon ng Supreme Court na ang bayarin ng planta ay P6 billion. Ngayon may expansion na naman. Will we suffer the same fate, the same previous condition imposed on us?” Butardo said, referring to the national government’s decision in the condonation of the gargantuan tax debts of the power firm to the provincial government to a mere fraction of the total obligation. Third District Board Member Victor Reyes also expressed reservation about the power-plant expansion project and sought a reasonable remuneration for the additional environmental hazard the new expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant will pose on the province. “Wala na nga ang inaasam namin sa Quezon na P6 billion, at ngayon sa pagdagdag ng supply na kuryente ng planta ay tatambakan na naman kami ng usok, paano naman kami?’ Di ba kami makakahirit ng mababang halaga ng kuryente sa planong pagtatayo namin ng industrial park?” he said, referring to the proposed establishment by the provincial government of an international container port and industrial park in Barangays Alupaye and Bantigue just across the plant site. Quezon LNG import hub, power plant to start 2015 June 10, 2014 Australia-listed Energy World Corp Ltd expects its nearly $1 billion liquefied natural gas hub and power plant in the Philippines to be running by early 2015, paving the way to a new market for imports of the super-chilled fuel. Purchases by the Southeast Asian nation would be welcome news for major LNG producers such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total, which are facing uncertainty about longer-term demand in Japan and South Korea, the top two buyers of the cleaner fuel. “We expect to be ready to operate at the end of this year or early 2015,” Energy World Chief Executive Stewart W. G. Elliot told Reuters on Monday. “Total cost is close to a billion dollars, including a 650 megawatt combined cycle power station.” That time frame would foreshadow the construction of two other LNG import and storage terminals in the next five years in separate projects proposed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and local firm First Gen Corp. The Philippines, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, needs to boost its energy output to keep up with demand, but public resistance to dirtier fuels has delayed some coal-fired power projects. Shell’s Philippine unit operates the country’s sole natural gas field, in Malampaya in the South China Sea, supplying three gas-fired power plants that account for a third of power generation on the major island of Luzon, home to Manila. But the government expects the field to dry by as early as 2023, directing focus towards importing from global supplies swollen in the wake of North America’s fracking revolution. Hong Kong-based Energy World has a 20-year lease on land in Quezon Province in Luzon for its import hub, which is expected to have an initial capacity to ship in 3 million tons of LNG a year. The power plant, at the same site, is slated to deliver 200 MW of supply by early 2015, before adding a further 450 MW by early 2016, Elliot said. The company plans to ship fuel from its Sengkang field in Indonesia, as well as possibly buying under contract from other producers or in international spot markets. The power plant will take most of the imports, but the company also plans to make gas available throughout the Philippines, distributing by sea to coastal terminals and by land via road tankers. Manila Electric Co (Meralco), the country’s biggest utility with a franchise that covers the capital and nearby provinces, could be a customer. “We are open to that,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said, when asked about the possibility of buying Energy World LNG. Energy World’s Elliot added that there could also be “tremendous opportunities” to sell gas to industry, households and restaurants. Elsewhere, Shell is looking to invest $2 billion to build new fuel storage and distribution facilities, including a floating LNG import terminal, while First Gen plans to build a $1 billion import hub to come online by 2019. But the shift towards LNG faces some high hurdles - most notably that coal is still seen a cheaper source of energy, making some utilities reluctant to invest in gas-fired power generation. Coal is the “most competitive” energy source, costing a little more than half the price of natural gas, said Meralco’s Reyes. “You’ve got clean technology in coal now ... but LNG clearly is a cleaner source of power.” The latest round of development comes less than a decade after several pioneering LNG power and pipeline projects were shelved or cancelled due to a lack of government support. Those included a supply deal with BP for a 1,200 MW power plant. And Manila still has no development blueprint for natural gas, with its energy minister ruling out sovereign guarantees and state subsidies for LNG investors and users. “Government clearly needs to help LNG, because right now everybody is focused on the cheapest which is coal,” said Jesse Ang, a representative in the Philippines of the World Bank’s private sector arm, International Finance Corp. - See more at:
http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-n...b-power-plant-start-2015#sthash.HLPf5TdD.dpuf
