Quezon power station
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Quezon power station is an operating power station of at least 1066-megawatts (MW) in Cagsiay I, Mauban, Quezon, Calabarzon, Philippines. It is also known as San Buenaventura power station (Unit 2).
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Quezon power station | Cagsiay I, Mauban, Quezon, Calabarzon, Philippines | 14.2296, 121.7558 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: 14.2296, 121.7558
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal: subbituminous | 538 | subcritical | 2000 |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal: subbituminous | 528 | supercritical | 2019 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Quezon Power (Philippines) Ltd Co [100%] | Electricity Generating PCL |
| Unit 2 | San Buenaventura Power Ltd Co [100%] | Manila Electric Co [51.0%]; Electricity Generating PCL [49.0%] |
Financing
- Source of financing: US$875,064,555 in debt from BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp.; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.; Philippine National Bank; and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
Background
Quezon power station was originally constructed as a single-united 440-MW coal-fired power plant in Quezon Province, which began operation in May of 2000.[1] The plant is owned by Quezon Power Philippines, a subsidiary of Thai company EGCO Group.[2] The plant occupies 87 hectares in the municipality of Mauban, Quezon Province, with a 31-kilometer transmission line that links into the national transmission network.[3]
In March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the part owner Meralco announced that the Quezon power station was operating with "a skeleton workforce".[4]
A 2022 website update from EGCO, the parent company of Quezon Power Philippines, stated that it planned to continue operating the plant for at least 25 more years, indicating that the plant would not retire before 2047.[5]
Ammonia co-firing
In January 2023, Quezon Power announced that ammonia co-firing would be trialed at the power station.[6] While the ammonia co-firing trial was allegedly a move to "offset emissions," [7] clean energy advocacy groups warn that co-firing ammonia could be a move to simply prolong the lifetimes of existing coal-fired plants, and is "a risky distraction from a genuinely beneficial energy transition for Filipinos."[8] In contrast to the power company's claims, green energy groups point to other environmentally detrimental effects of co-firing ammonia with coal, such as "the fossil fuel-intensive processes used to produce ammonia" and the fact that its combustion "emits other greenhouse gasses including high amounts of poisonous nitrogen oxides."[8] Reporting in June 2023 announced that Quezon Power would begin co-firing ammonia at one of the coal-fired units by the end of the year, with the goal of co-firing 20% ammonia.[9]
Description of Expansion
In 2015, a consortium was building a second coal-fired unit with a planned capacity of 455 MW (previously described as 460 MW) at the site.[10] The second unit was sponsored by San Buenaventura Power, a joint venture that is jointly owned by Meralco PowerGen Corporation (a subsidiary of MERALCO) and EGCO Group.[11] The project was initially considered in 2007, was then dropped, and was picked up again in 2012.[12]
The project's sponsors applied for an amendment to the project's original 2007 environmental permit in June 2013. Final financing arrangements are not expected to be lined up until final permits are issued.[12] As of October 2014, sponsors were apparently also still negotiation the engineering, procurement, & construction (EPC) contract with potential contractors; San Buenaventura Power stated at that time that it was planning to proceed with construction in early 2015, and to complete the plant by Summer 2018. San Buenaventura also hopes to raise up to P40 billion ($900 million) in debt markets once permits are in hand and the EPC contract is negotiated.[13]
In February 2015, it was reported that the sponsors were seeking to have the construction of the plant fast tracked. According to the report, the sponsors were still finalizing a contract for engineering, procurement, and construction and that the project was targeted for 2018. The size of the expansion was now described as 455 MW.[14]
In May 2015, the Power Supply Agreement received approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.[15]
In November 2015 Meralco said it was still searching for prospective partners for construction of the plant. Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the project would require a partnership with a foreign firm to spread any possible risk “with the partner likely Japanese or Korean and probably not Chinese.” The power project, estimated at US$2 billion (P94.41 billion), would be undertaken by Atimonan One Energy.[16]
In December 2015 it was reported that ground-breaking ceremonies had been held on December 10, with Daelim Industrial Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. serving as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor. Commercial operations were planned by mid-2019.[10]
In October 2017 it was reported that construction of the 455 MW coal plant in Quezon province was more than halfway completed, with the project on track to start commercial operations by mid-2019.[17] In May 2018 it was reported that construction was 84% complete and that commercial operations might begin a few months later in 2019, due to delays caused by Tropical Depression Maring in September 2017 and Tropical storm Urduja in December 2017.[18]
In September 2018 the Department of Energy listed a scheduled commissioning date of December 2019.[19] In March 2019 the Department of Energy reported that construction was 98.15% complete as of January 31, 2019.[20] Unit 2 was commissioned in October 2019.[21] The Philippine DOE and various news reports now describe it as a 500-MW unit instead of 445 MW.[22]
Capacity Changes
In April 2023, the DOE's list of existing power plants reported updated installed (nameplate) capacities for each of the units to the following:
- Unit 1: 538.4 MW
- Unit 2: 528.1 MW [23]
Financing
Senior-term loan lenders for the Quezon power station were reported to be BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp.; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.; Philippine National Bank; and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. BDO Unibank-Trust and Investments Group was the loan facility agent, and Metrobank-Trust Banking Group acted as collateral trustee. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. are joint bookrunners and joint issue coordinators. BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., Chinabank, PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and RCBC Capital Corp. were joint lead arrangers for the transaction.[10]
In 2017, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice lodged a formal complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its involvement in Philippine coal-fired power stations. The complaint alleged that the IFC had funded these projects through its financial support to Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). The Quezon power station was one of 11 power stations for which the IFC's involvement was found to be sufficient to trigger the IFC's internal accountability process.[24]
Tropical Storm Paeng
In October 2022, 4 million residents were left without power when tropical storm Paeng shut down Bacman geothermal power plant, Quezon power station and Pagbilao power station. At the Quezon power station, there was a malfunction with the feedwater control valve.[25]
Outages and impact on grid
In May 2024, an analysis by the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development found that coal- and gas-fired power plants were the leading cause of blackouts in the Philippines between 2019 and 2023. Over half of the forced outages in that time period were attributable to coal plants. Of the eight most unreliable plants, six were coal plants: Calaca power station, San Buenaventura power station, Masinloc power station, Limay power station, Panay power station, and Pagbilao power station. These power stations each had at least 10 incidents of forced outages. The amount of outages was not consistent with age; Masinloc power station Unit 3, which had only been operating for three years, was reportedly offline for 118 days.[26]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ List of Existing Power Plants, Philippine Department of Energy, Dec. 31, 2020
- ↑ "Coal-Fired Plants Financed by International Public Investment Institutions Since 1994", Appendix to Foreclosing the Future: Coal, Climate and International Public Finance: Investment in coal-fired power plants hinders the fight against global warming, Environmental Defense, April 2009.
- ↑ "Quezon power station," Wikimapia, accessed Dec 2013.
- ↑ Meralco unit stops work on power projects, Manila Bulletin, Mar. 27, 2020
- ↑ Sustainability Projects, EGCO Group, Accessed: Nov. 27, 2023
- ↑ EGCO-QPL, Korean firm to pioneer ammonia co-fired plant, Manila Bulletin, January 29, 2023
- ↑ Infrastructure & PPPs in Philippines - Q1 2023 Update, Yog Infra, April 5, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Green groups warn Japan-PH cooperation for ammonia co-firing, hydrogen a threat to energy transition, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, Feb. 15, 2023
- ↑ Quezon Power to commence co-fired power generation by end-2023, Power Philippines, June 13, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Alena Mae S. Flores, "Meralco starts work on Quezon coal plant," The Standard, 14 December 2015
- ↑ "Quezon expansion" Alena Mae S. Flores, Manila Standard Today, December 6, 2013.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Private Sector Initiated Power Projects (Luzon), Philippines Department of Energy, 30 Sept. 2014.
- ↑ Feliciano, Claire-Ann. Funds sought for Quezon coal plant expansion. BusinessWorld, 29 Oct. 2014.
- ↑ Lenie Lectura, "Meralco, partners want new 455-mw plant in Quezon ready by 2018," Business Mirror, February 2, 2015 (cached)
- ↑ Richie A. Horario, "Meralco-San Buenaventura supply pact gets ERC nod," The Manila Times, May 21, 2015
- ↑ "Meralco searching for partners for Quezon coal plant project," Rappler, Nov 30, 2015
- ↑ "San Buenaventura plant on track to start operations by mid-2019," Business World, October 30, 2017
- ↑ Delays not hampering completion of 455-MW Quezon coal-fired plant, PhilStar, May 3, 2018
- ↑ 2018 Private Sector initiated power projects in Luzun (indicative) Philippine Department of Energy, 30 Sep., 2018
- ↑ PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATED POWER PROJECTS (LUZON) COMMITTED, Philippine Department of Energ, 31 Mar., 2019
- ↑ Coal power plants flourish in the Philippines despite ‘climate emergency’, Mongabay, Oct. 28, 2019
- ↑ PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATED POWER PROJECTS (LUZON) COMMITTED, Philippine Department of Energ, 31 Aug., 2019
- ↑ List of Existing Power Plants per Grid -- Luzon, Department of Energy, April 28, 2023
- ↑ CAO ASSESSMENT REPORT Regarding Concerns in Relation to IFC’s Investment in Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) – 01 (#30235, #32853, #34115, #37489) in the Philippines, IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, April 2019
- ↑ "3 power plants shut, 4 million Meralco clients without power amid storm", Manila Standard, October 31, 2022.
- ↑ Can’t Take The Heat?: Examining the Philippines’ Perennial Power Outages Problem caused by Fossil Fuels, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, May 13, 2024
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
