Listed firm Aboitiz Power Corporation plans to kick off study next year on co-firing ammonia with coal-fed power plants, as a way to pare the carbon intensity of these environment-assaulting power generating assets.

“We’re looking at having that [feasibility] study perhaps starting next year. Assuming everything goes well, our aim is to get [results] within the decade,” said Felino M. Bernardo, chief operating officer of the Thermal Power Generation Group of Aboitiz Power.

“Hopefully, by 2030, the prices [of ammonia] have already gone down, then we can do our own test in one of our facilities,” he added.

The company stated it is lining up its 735-megawatt Pagbilao coal plant as the candidate-facility for testing, so any outcome on such ‘demonstration experiment’ from the study will serve as proof-point on the viability or non-viability of that proposed energy solution.

Bernardo made reference on the challenges that have been experienced by markets already experimenting on ammonia, that while it is  easy to transport, “its cost per metric ton is still high, currently at least twice the price of coal.”

Beyond the cost hurdle, he emphasized that “most of the ammonia supply in Japan is already being utilized for agricultural purposes, hence the necessity of strengthening the logistics network of ammonia.”

He further noted “the use of ammonia in co-firing coal plants will require a lot of technical evaluation, possibly in collaboration with JERA.”

Relative to the plan, Aboitiz Power indicated that it “expanded its area of collaboration” with its Japanese firm-partner JERA; not just on the facet of ammonia co-firing, but also on the blend of hydrogen with liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.

Aboitiz Power is currently not a player in the Philippine gas sector, and it has not specified if it will leverage on the gas assets of JERA for the planned hydrogen-LNG study to determine prospects linked to this innovative energy solution.

The company previously sounded off plan to venture into LNG, but until now, there is no concrete project taking off yet from Aboitiz Power’s gas drawing board.

Based on established facts and data in the energy sector when it comes to the importance of diversification in the energy mix, Bernardo restated “we have to consider the whole power system. Renewable is not going to do it alone. Coal-fired power plants cannot do it alone. LNG can be the transition fuel to support the demand for stable electricity, while society is still figuring out how to balance reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions for baseload power.”

Aboitiz Power still has huge fleets of coal-fired power generation, but it has been ‘cleaning its act’ with planned ramp up of renewable energy (RE) investments that it will be advancing to fruition by the turn of the decade.

Bernardo likewise shared his two-cents worth on small modular reactors (SMRs) on the nuclear power installation domain, similarly asserting long-held view that the cost of this technology is still the worth of gold, especially to penny-pinching Filipino consumers.

“I believe that [nuclear] could be part of the Philippine energy mix. It’s just a matter of time. What’s important is that we make sure that we have the capacity to plan and execute it in a safe way. Safety is number one as far as nuclear technology is concerned,” he said.

Aboitiz Power is similarly setting its sights on nuclear, primarily SMR deployment, but as it is, it has not firmed up any timeframe yet on when it will really walk the talk on this sphere of energy investment.

“For SMRs, the timing will depend on many factors, including enabling laws that will support it,” the Aboitiz firm stipulated.

On some SMR installations being experimented on in global markets, primarily NuScale in the United States, that has been confronted with cost overruns that could then further inflate cost on a per-kilowatt-hour basis when passed on to the ratepayers.

In addition, the technology rollout is not seen coming as an immediate solution to energy-starving markets like the Philippines, because the licensing of most of the pilot SMR-builds are seen concretized by 2028 or beyond the turn of the decade.