MASINLOC, Zambales – AES Corporation, the operator of the Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Plant, has bared plans to spend $1 billion to double its current 600-megawatt power facility to bring it up to world-class standards, amid “tremendous” demand for energy for the growing industries in the country.
The Masinloc plant, which boosts power supply in the Luzon grid, was designed for a lifetime of 25 years. The pending expansion would extend its capability for another 30 years, AES officials told Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Edbane, Jr.
They also reported to Ebdane that the plan to double the capacity of the plant from 600 to 1,200 megawatts would cost about $1 billion.
In a recent briefing, AES officials told Ebdane that their company is now “undertaking massive rehabilitation of the plant, including the improvement of skills of workers in plant operations.”
“Our focus is reliability,” said Kevin Pierce, the American manager of the plant in barangay Bani here. “We want to make sure that the company would help the Philippines grow, as it is important to have a very strong infrastructure program for the country to progress.”
Pierce said that since AES purchased the plant in 2007, it has spent close to $63 million in improving the facility.
“The system we’re operating was a real mess when we first got here. (Mt. Pinatubo) ash was basically everywhere. We had to clean passages clogged by ashes,” Pierce said, as he showed Ebdane photographs of the plant before and after the AES takeover.
”We’re still doing a lot of work on boiler tubing on unit 1,” Pierce reported, adding that “this year’s work focused on stack dust density improvements, ash collection system and ash pond rehabilitation, and improvement of the coal storage area.”
He said that “in keeping up with environmental standards, the AES has been operating the plant at 25 percent of the emission standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).” He stressed that his company “has also introduced safety improvements in the plant to enforce a culture of safety among workers.”
With the repair and rehabilitation phase almost finished, the AES is now expanding its capacity, said AES country manager Andy Horrocks, a British national.
“The Philippines is a growing country and the demand for electricity is just tremendous,” Horrocks noted.
He said “because coal is the cheapest source of energy apart from hydroelectric plants, the introduction of more coal-based power generation plants will help improve the (country’s power) situation.” He reported that AES has been consulting experts on the expansion plans.
Harrocks said some of these experts have arrived in the country ”to help us figure out how we would design and reconfigure the plant to possibly double the output of the facility for another 600 megawatt of production.”
Pierce said about 26 percent of AES employees are local hires and that their number “could dramatically increase once the expansion project starts.”
AES took over the Masinloc power plant after winning the bidding in July 2007 with a $930 million offer.
Aside from generating employment for local workers by operating the plant, AES also provides benefits to local community through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, Pierce said.
For this year, the company has set aside P10 million to send students to school, feed children, protect the eyesight of local residents, build schoolrooms, and provide supplies for disaster relief operations, among other projects.
Pierce said most of the beneficiaries of the company’s CSR program are residents of the village of Bani, the host barangay, as well as nearby communities such as Taltal and Baloganon in Masinloc, and Lauis in Candelaria.
The Masinloc plant, which boosts power supply in the Luzon grid, was designed for a lifetime of 25 years. The pending expansion would extend its capability for another 30 years, AES officials told Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Edbane, Jr.
They also reported to Ebdane that the plan to double the capacity of the plant from 600 to 1,200 megawatts would cost about $1 billion.
In a recent briefing, AES officials told Ebdane that their company is now “undertaking massive rehabilitation of the plant, including the improvement of skills of workers in plant operations.”
“Our focus is reliability,” said Kevin Pierce, the American manager of the plant in barangay Bani here. “We want to make sure that the company would help the Philippines grow, as it is important to have a very strong infrastructure program for the country to progress.”
Pierce said that since AES purchased the plant in 2007, it has spent close to $63 million in improving the facility.
“The system we’re operating was a real mess when we first got here. (Mt. Pinatubo) ash was basically everywhere. We had to clean passages clogged by ashes,” Pierce said, as he showed Ebdane photographs of the plant before and after the AES takeover.
”We’re still doing a lot of work on boiler tubing on unit 1,” Pierce reported, adding that “this year’s work focused on stack dust density improvements, ash collection system and ash pond rehabilitation, and improvement of the coal storage area.”
He said that “in keeping up with environmental standards, the AES has been operating the plant at 25 percent of the emission standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).” He stressed that his company “has also introduced safety improvements in the plant to enforce a culture of safety among workers.”
With the repair and rehabilitation phase almost finished, the AES is now expanding its capacity, said AES country manager Andy Horrocks, a British national.
“The Philippines is a growing country and the demand for electricity is just tremendous,” Horrocks noted.
He said “because coal is the cheapest source of energy apart from hydroelectric plants, the introduction of more coal-based power generation plants will help improve the (country’s power) situation.” He reported that AES has been consulting experts on the expansion plans.
Harrocks said some of these experts have arrived in the country ”to help us figure out how we would design and reconfigure the plant to possibly double the output of the facility for another 600 megawatt of production.”
Pierce said about 26 percent of AES employees are local hires and that their number “could dramatically increase once the expansion project starts.”
AES took over the Masinloc power plant after winning the bidding in July 2007 with a $930 million offer.
Aside from generating employment for local workers by operating the plant, AES also provides benefits to local community through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, Pierce said.
For this year, the company has set aside P10 million to send students to school, feed children, protect the eyesight of local residents, build schoolrooms, and provide supplies for disaster relief operations, among other projects.
Pierce said most of the beneficiaries of the company’s CSR program are residents of the village of Bani, the host barangay, as well as nearby communities such as Taltal and Baloganon in Masinloc, and Lauis in Candelaria.
