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FIRST Gen Hydro Power Corp. has commenced with the upgrade of the
Pantabangan hydroelectric power plant as part of the expansion
program lined up for the facility.
In a statement, Lopez-controlled First Gen
Corp. said that its wholly owned subsidiary, which owns and operates
the 100 megawatt facility, has commissioned Australia-based VA Tech
Hydro (GmbH) to undertake major refurbishment and upgrade works on
the plant.
Since its commissioning in 1977, the Pantabangan
plant in Nueva Ecija has been in operation for more than 30 years
without having undergone a major overhaul, First Gen said. The
upgrade will extend its life by an additional 25 years and improve
its efficiency and performance by increasing capacity by 18
megawatts.
The project involves refurbishing the
plant’s two generating units in 2009 and in 2010 as part of First
Gen Hydro’s expansion program for the facility and the 12-megawatt
Masiway hydro plant.
The proposed expansion for the
Pantabangan-Masiway plants involves the acquisition of additional
generating units that will increase the facilities’ combined
capacity by 78 megawatts.
First Gen acquired the facilities in an
auction held by state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp. in September 2006.
VA Tech, which will undertake the
refurbishment and upgrade, is a leading global supplier of turnkey
electro-mechanical equipment for hydro power plants.
First Gen is the largest power producer in the
country. It is also the largest Filipino owned and controlled
independent power generation company with an installed capacity of
2,582.4 megawatts, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the
country’s total installed capacity.
First Gen’s shares closed lower Friday
at P43.50 from P44.00 in the previous trading day.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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