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SMC Mariveles Power Station is a proposed 1,200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in the Freeport area of Bataan, Central Luzon, the Philippines.

Location

The map below shows the site in the Freeport area of Bataan, Central Luzon, the Philippines. Planet satellite photography from June 2020 to December 2020 and January 2021 to July 2022 showed significant construction progress.

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Background on Plant

The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) approved the proposed plant for a grid impact study (GIS) in January 2015.

In October 2018, the project's Environmental Impact Study (EIS) stated that it would consist of 8 x 150 MW units.

In January 2019, SMC Global Power and Meralco announced that the plant would be built and operated by a joint venture firm, Mariveles Power Generation Corp. The project would be built on a 150-hectare property within the Mariveles Economic Zone of the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan in Barangay Biaan, Mariveles.

In August 2020, the DOE's list of initiated power projects in Luzon stated that construction of the project had begun and was 6% complete. This August 2020 report listed the project as 4 x 300 MW with a commissioning date of March 2022 for Unit 1, June 2022 for Unit 2, December 2022 for Unit 3, and March 2023 for Unit 4. However, the December 2020 update to the DOE's list of initiated power projects replaced the target commissioning dates for all four units to "TBD". This report also reported no progress on construction since July 2020.

An August 2020 report from SMC Global Power named Formosa Heavy Industries, Inc., as the EPC contractor for the SMC Mariveles power station.

The March 2021 DOE report listed each of the four SMC Mariveles units as 150 MW for a total capacity of 600 MW. The report also provided target completion dates of 2022 for Units 1-3 and 2023 for Unit 4.

In its December 2021 listings of initiated power projects in Luzon, the DOE re-listed four additional units to be built, Units 5-8, each with 150 MW capacity.

In March 2022, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) appeared to issue a Certificate of Compliance for 600 MW of capacity at the site. It was unclear if this was for the first four units or four additional units.

In its June 2022 listings of "Committed" power projects in Luzon, the DOE summarized the following:

"Target completion of coal conveyor (jetty to coal yard) has been moved from October 2022 to Dec 2022 due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Shanghai, China affecting fabrication and delivery of Formosa Heavy Industries, Inc. Sub-contractor. This moved the target synchronization date from end of December 2022 and to March 2023. Shortage of local manpower is also experienced by True North due to resignation of workers and/or not yet returned workers after the 2022 National and Local Elections in May 2022. Delayed in construction of 11km 500kV Transmission Line due to Right of Way (ROW) issues and transmission tower sites with 2 claimants."

As of July 2022, three unit structures were clearly visible in Planet satellite imagery (linked above), with a fourth unit structure also underway. As of August 2022, commissioning of Unit 4 was pushed from 2023 to March 2024.

As of February 2023, the commissioning of Unit 4 was pushed forward to December 2023. The February 2023 DOE report predicted delays on the plant's target commercial operation date due to the "required completion of the Balsik-San Jose 500kV Transmission Line Project of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines", pushing the target commercial operating date of Unit 3 to January 2024.

2020 moratorium on greenfield coal plants

On October 27, 2020, the Philippine Department of Energy imposed a moratorium on the construction of new or "greenfield" power plants, meaning those which had yet to begin construction. SMC Global Power and Meralco subsequently confirmed that their planned greenfield coal plants were cancelled.

Given that the project was reportedly 6% complete in August 2020, it seemed unlikely that the moratorium alone would cancel the plant.

Project Details

• Sponsor: Mariveles Power Generation
• Parent Company: SMC Global Power (49%); Meralco (49%); Zygnet Prime Holdings (2%)
• Location: Freeport area, Bataan, Central Luzon, the Philippines
• Coordinates: 14.4493543, 120.4322832 (exact)
• Status: Phase I, Units 1-4: Construction; Phase II, Units 5-8: Pre-permit development
• Gross Capacity: 1,200 MW: 8 x 150 MW
• Type:
• Projected in service: Units 1-2: 2023; Units 3-4: 2024; Units 5-6: 2025; Unit 7-8: 2026
• Coal Type:
• Coal Source: Indonesia; Philippines (Daguma mine and Semirara mine)
• Source of financing:

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