The provincial government of La Union has formally awarded the ownership of the 225-megawatt Bauang diesel power plant to 1590 Energy Corporation (1590 EC), a subsidiary of Garcia-led Vivant Energy Corporation.
The notice of award to 1590 EC was formally served on April 6, after the company submitted the highest bid for the asset last April 1 by the facility’s host-provincial government and following post-evaluation process on the winning tender.
“The sale will be concluded through a Deed of Transfer and Conveyance that will be executed by the two parties to formally transfer the ownership of BDPP (Bauang diesel power plant) to 1590 EC,” Vivant said in a statement.
According to 1590 EC Chairman Emil Andre Garcia, their company “will invest further into BDPP to continue providing stable and reliable power to the grid.” The plant, which started its commercial operations in 1995, helped stave off a power crisis in the country at that time.
As a thermal power facility, the Bauang plant could help serve Luzon grid’s peaking power requirements -- especially when there will be radical spike in electricity demand during the summer months.
“We welcome this opportunity to solidify our commitment to be a partner in the continued development of both the province of La Union and the municipality of Bauang,” Garcia stressed.
Throughout the power facility’s operating cycle as manned by 1590 EC, it was emphasized that the company helped improve living conditions across its host communities, including the construction of classrooms and science laboratories which was spearheaded by Vivant Foundation. The company was also on hand to help the community when calamities strike as well as in implementing distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Habana, president of 1590 EC, stated that “while diesel-fired plants use fossil fuel technology, the speed at which they can be fired up supports the expansion of renewable energy in the total energy mix by providing fast-reacting ancillary power to support renewable energy expansion.”
The investment trajectory of the country’s energy sector is now heavily leaning into the RE space, but some thermal plants are still aligned to address the variability of generation capacity of these clean energy technologies, primarily for wind and solar farm installations.
And given the tight supply condition in the biggest power grid of Luzon, all existing capacities are considered significant in augmenting supply especially as the country will be carrying out its national and local elections this year.
Oil-fired power facilities are generally regarded as pricier option in the merit order of dispatch, but in cases of strained power supply in the system, energy experts opined that a country’s economy is still better with higher cost power than having blackouts or disrupted electricity services.