THERE is a delay in the completion of overhaul works on the 300- megawatt (MW) unit of the Malaya thermal power plant, the top official of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said on Monday.
From end-April, the Malaya rehabilitation will be moved to end-May, according to PSALM President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.
“The contractor, STX Marine Service Co. Ltd., has sent parts to Korea first week of April for repair. In view of that, the target completion date might be moved to end-May,” the PSALM official said in a text message.
Under the terms of reference, work must have been originally completed on March 3, or 90 days from issuance of the notice to proceed to STX Marine of Korea, which started overhauling the unit in December last year.
STX Marine bagged the contract with an P80.63-million bid offer.
The Malaya power facility consists of a 300-MW unit with a once-through type boiler and a 350-MW unit fitted with a conventional boiler. It was rehabilitated in 1995 by the Korea Electric Power Corp. under a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-maintain agreement.
Once Malaya1 is rehabilitated, the entire Malaya facility can run at its full capacity of 650 MW.
STX is engaged in the design, construction, supervision and repair of system or equipment related to energy. The company is also a provider of maritime solutions, and among its services are ship management, marine transportation and brokerage, and ship design, construction, leasing and repair.
STX Marine also recently won a one-year contract to operate and maintain the two units of the Malaya thermal power plant.
The government was earlier hoping that rehabilitation of the Malaya Unit 1 could be finished before summer to make it available in time for the Malampaya shutdown.
The Malampaya facility went offline last March 15.