The Department of Energy (DOE) is still undecided if it will grant the application for certification that will greenlight the planned 1,200-megawatt Atimonan coal-fired power project of Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), the power investment arm of utility giant Manila Electric Company.

When asked by the media, Energy Secretary Raphael P. M. Lotilla said “there is that and we will make our decisions and announce them as we make them.”

The energy chief has not hinted at this point if they are inclined to approve the certification plea for the Atimonan venture; although it is apparent that the project is excluded in the coal moratorium that was enforced in 2020.

The energy department has always been forthright is stating that coal plant developments will continue until 2028 or within the reign of the Marcos administration, because there were already committed projects prior to the enforcement of the moratorium.

The first project that was given go-signal in the revival of coal plant developments in the country had been the 150MW expansion of the Therma Visayas Inc. facility of Aboitiz Power Corporation.

Apart from Aboitiz Power and Meralco, Consunji-led firm Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) is also expected to rejoin the league of coal plant developments, as the technology is still depended upon to solve the country’s tight power supply dilemmas – primarily for Luzon and Visayas grids.

For the Atimonan project, in particular, MGen already penciled in $3.0 billion worth of investments that shall be funneled into its development; and the facility will be equipped with ultra-super critical (USC) boiler technology.

The sponsor-firm similarly advanced on its search for a strategic partner at the time; while contemplating also on the award then of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project.

However, the blueprinted facility's implementation was temporarily  slowed down by the company when its power supply agreement (PSA) was affected by a Supreme Court verdict in 2019; as the ruling required the conduct of competitive selection process (CSP) for all supply contracts from June 30, 2015 and onwards.

That high court decision effectively nullified the previously awarded PSA to the Atimonan plant; and that in turn had compelled MGen to re-think options, although permitting had already been fully accomplished and pre-development works had so far been completed at the project site.

For some time, Meralco likewise explored the possibility of technology shift to liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Atimonan coal plant development; but that too, was eventually assessed as not highly feasible, with the company noting that it is not ideal to set up LNG import facility in the area.

Back in 2019, MGen indicated that the project was already at its construction-ready phase; and all right-of-way (ROW) acquisitions had so far been completed for the land that will be traversed by the transmission facility that will underpin the capacity wheeling of the plant’s generated electricity to the main grid.