BECAUSE of rising demand for electricity by locators at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, publicly-listed Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) and Taiwan Cogeneration Inc. may infuse up to $440 million to build a coal-fired power plant in the zone.

Aboitiz Power president and chief executive Erramon Aboitiz told reporters that the project could entail between $220 million and $440 million in investments. For the project, the company has a 50-50 sharing arrangement with Taiwan Cogeneration.

“We are currently developing the feasibility, as well as talking with potential offtakers for the power plant’s output. But we have secured an agreement with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and an environmental compliance certificate for the coal-plant power project,” Aboitiz said.

Aboitiz Power and Cogeneration are looking at putting up a 150-megawatt (MW) to 300-MW coal-fired power plant, Aboitiz said they have yet to determine the plant capacity, saying the acquired land can accommodate a power plant with up to 600 MW in output. “But we don’t want to do everything in one go, we want to do it in phases,” he added.

It is also possible that the partners will decide over time to build a plant at full capacity based on actual demand, Aboitiz said.

He said there is demand for electricity, and that demand is actually picking up. “We’ve seen that in the first few months growth has really accelerated compared to the previous years and as the economy continues to grow, we expect [growth] to further accelerate,” Aboitiz said.

On Monday, APC made its initial public offering opening at P6.20 per share and closed to P5.80 per share. Proceeds of the sale will be used to finance part of Aboitiz Power’s plan to participate in the privatization of the National Power Corp.’s (Napocor) assets, particularly its hydroelectric and geothermal plants. The money will also be used to fund the company’s greenfield projects.

“Apart from the Napocor’s assets privatization, we are looking at some greenfield projects as it will bring in the much-needed additional power capacity in the country in the very near future.” The greenfield projects will help the economy cope with additional power needs, Aboitiz said.

BECAUSE of rising demand for electricity by locators at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, publicly-listed Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) and Taiwan Cogeneration Inc. may infuse up to $440 million to build a coal-fired power plant in the zone.

Defer bourse ownership rule—PSE

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will again ask the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a six-month to one-year extension to comply with the directive that calls for a further reduction in the collective ownership of brokers in the bourse.

PHILIPPINE stocks fell, ending a two-day climb. Ayala Corp. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) declined on concern gains in the previous two weeks were excessive compared with earnings prospects.

SHARES of Aboitiz Power Corp.  (APC) failed to rouse market interest during the first day of trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange, opening at P6.20 each before closing at the offer price of P5.80.

WHAT may worry most the business sector is politicalization of the judicial system. That’s the main beef as it often leaves contracts and other requisites of development sprawled in a legal minefield.