SAN MIGUEL Global Power Holdings Corp. expects liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment to arrive within this month.
“The vessel that will be filled with LNG has arrived,” San Miguel Corp. (SMC) President Ramon S. Ang told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of the inauguration of San Miguel Global Power’s battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Limay, Bataan.
Mr. Ang said the import terminal will start its commissioning this week and its operations to begin within a month. He said the terminal’s capacity can supply power up to 1,200 megawatts (MW) ahead of further developing it to bring 1,300 MW more or a total of 2,500 MW.
The initial 1,200-MW capacity is expected to be available next month, with the additional capacity set to be ready next year, he added.
Meanwhile, a source at SMC unit San Miguel Global Power said the country can expect to receive its first LNG shipment by mid-April.
“This will be used to commission the Batangas LNG terminal in Batangas Bay, near Manila, which will be the country’s first operational LNG import terminal,” the source said, adding that the shipment will be used to fuel the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas power plant.
Data from San Miguel Global Power’s website show that the import terminal has a planned combined cycle gas plant in Batangas City’s lijan and Dela Paz Proper.
In November last year, the Department of Energy said that two LNG projects are expected to start operations in 2023.
Linseed Field Power Corp., a unit of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co., said that it had completed the conversion of a vessel into a floating storage unit for gas.
First Gen Corp., through its subsidiary FGEN LNG Corp., said its LNG terminal will also be completed by the first quarter of 2023.
Linseed will serve as the operator of the LNG re-gasification facility that will be rented by San Miguel Global Power’s South Premiere Power Corp.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Global Power inaugurated its 90-megawatt-hour (MWh) BESS facilities in Limay, Bataan last Friday.
“Our BESS facilities will support the country’s power grid by storing excess power from existing plants, and injecting this power back, when and where it is needed, within milliseconds, ensuring power quality is stable, and reaches users all over the country,” Mr. Ang said.
Mr. Ang said the SMC group now has about 640-MWh BESS facilities operating nationwide, spread across 32 stations. The company is targeting to add about 360 MWh by yearend.
“With battery energy storage, we can solve the problem with most renewable energy sources, which is intermittency, due to the irregularity or seasonality of solar and wind power sources. Over the next couple of years, we estimate the integration of up to 5000 MW of renewable power into the grid, due largely to our BESS facilities,” he added. — Ashley Erika O. Jose