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GNPower Ltd. Co. and the National Transmission Corp.
(TransCo) plan to fast track the construction of a transmission line
in Central Luzon deemed critical in the operations of a coal plant
in Bataan.
GNPower and TransCo have filed a
joint application before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for
the accelerated implementation of the Hermosa-Limay transmission
line project.
The project involves grid
reinforcements required to allow simultaneous full dispatch of the
two generating units of GNPower’s proposed 600-megawatt Mariveles
coal plant and meet its commercial operations scheduled by 2010.
Aside from the said line, TransCo
said that another transmission facility, the Hermosa-Mexico line,
may likewise have to be upgraded, depending on whether the planned
300-megawatt coal-fired plant in Subic connects along this corridor.
GNPower has scheduled the start
of the facility’s construction this year. The coal plant is
expected to cost about $822.3 million.
The ERC earlier said that the
proposed plant will help address the imminent increase in power
demand in the Luzon grid by 2010 as projected by the Department of
Energy. The facility will also help keep power rates down as “the
lack of sufficient capacity as early as 2008 will force the Luzon
grid to utilize more expensive generation plants.”
The Luzon grid is projected to
require an additional 15 megawatts in 2010 and another 450 by 2011.
GNPower is a partnership
between Power Partners Ltd. Co. and fund manager PMR Holding Corp.
The group is composed of American and Nauran investors.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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