With no new power plant to come online anytime soon, supply next year would be barely enough to meet demand, according to industry leaders.
Manuel Pangilinan, Manila Electric Co. chairman and chief executive officer, said San Miguel Corp.’s 1,750 megawatts (MW) liquefied natural gas-fired power plant under Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI) is the only one among the few big power plants scheduled to come online but would only be able contribute significantly to supply by early 2025.
EERI earlier said two units with a capacity of 437.5 MW each may be operational by September next year while another 437.5 MW unit can be ready by December 2024.
The company did not disclose when the last 437.5 MW unit of the plant will be ready.
“It’s always good to have surplus power because you put permanent pressure on prices downward. If you don’t have surplus capacity, you will face bouts of tightness which we don’t want to see. As a distributor, we want to see good margins of supply to demand,” Pangilinan told reporters in a media event in Pasig City last week.
Emmanuel Rubio, Aboitiz Power president and chief executive officer, in a separate interview said demand may grow by 600 to 700 MW next year.
Rubio said despite the expected effects of El Niño especially to hydro power plants, the availability of the 2×600 MW Ilijan combined cycle power plant in Batangas would help stabilize supply.
“…(It’s) still going to be tight especially during summer but I think we will have ample supply. Maybe there will be times when diesel plants will be dispatched but it’s good that Ilijan is now running unlike in early 2022. I think we should be okay,” Rubio told reporters in a separate media event in Makati City last week.
Rubio said water levels in Magat Dam in Isabela where Aboitiz Power operates a hydro power plant, are below normal amid the onset of the El Niño phenomenon that is expected to persist until next year.
