San Buenaventura is a 500MW coal-fired supercritical power project under construction in the Quezon province of the Philippines. Scheduled for commissioning in 2019, it will be the first supercritical power plant in the country.
San Buenaventura Power (SBPL) is the owner and operator of the supercritical power facility.
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Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), a subsidiary of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), holds the majority share of 51% in SBPL, while the remaining is owned by New Growth, a subsidiary of Electricity Generating Public Company (EGCO Group).
SBPL started construction on the project in December 2015, after securing PHP42bn ($896m) funding from a consortium of Philippine banks in November 2015, which represented the country’s biggest exclusive Peso project finance facility.
San Buenaventura power plant details
The San Buenaventura coal-fired power plant is being constructed in the premises of an existing plant in the Mauban municipality of the Quezon region, approximately 130km south-east of Manila.
Using state-of-the-art supercritical boiler technology, the San Buenaventura plant will operate at higher pressures leading to significantly more efficient and less-emitting power generation, compared to conventional coal-based power plants.
The San Buenaventura power plant will use sub-bituminous coal as fuel, which will be transported from the on-site coal yard to the boiler by covered overland conveyors.
The supercritical coal power plant will also be fitted with an electrostatic precipitator for fly ash capture and removal and a seawater-based flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) system to reduce emissions.
It will feature a covered turbine deck to protect the personnel from adverse climates as well as to facilitate easy plant maintenance.
Power off-take
The gross installed capacity of the San Buenaventura power plant will be 500MW. A total of 455MW of power will be sold to the country’s largest electricity distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco), under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The PPA was approved by Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission in 2015.
San Buenaventura power project construction timeline
The boiler installation for the plant was completed during the last quarter of 2017. SBPL initially planned the plant start-up and grid connection in the fourth quarter of 2018, but rescheduled it for June 2019.
Financing
A consortium of banks led by BDO Unibank extended PHP42.15bn ($896.3m) of loan facility for the San Buenaventura supercritical power plant in November 2015.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust (Metrobank), China Banking Corporation, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, and Philippine National Bank (PNB) form the consortium. Each member of the consortium provided PHP8.42bn ($178.79m).
BDO Unibank was the loan facility agent, while Metrobank was the collateral trustee. The banks also act as joint bookrunners and joint issue co-ordinators.
Latham and Watkins acted as financial advisor for the financing deal, which has a loan period of 15 years.
Contractors involved
The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the project was jointly awarded to Daelim Industrial and Mitsubishi Corporation in December 2015.
Daelim Industrial is the main construction contractor responsible for civil works as well as the construction and installation of associated infrastructure.
Mitsubishi Corporation designed and supplied industrial boilers, steam generators, and turbines for the San Buenaventura supercritical power project.
