Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) is in talks with local banks to fund its planned 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas, under subsidiary St. Raphael Power Generation Corp.
SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun said the company plans to engage banks to syndicate a term loan facility that could help finance the project.
Gotianun, however, said the project’s implementation remains uncertain due to funding challenges, as some of the country’s biggest banks have declared they will no longer support additional coal plants.
“We are talking to other banks to find out their appetite,” Gotianun said.
SMPC plans to fund the project through 70 percent debt and 30 percent equity.
While the final cost has yet to be finalized, Gotianun said the project could cost more than $1 million per megawatt, depending on the technology the company will use.
Depending on funding, SMPC may implement the project in phases. However, it initially planned to construct the two 350-megawatt coal-fired power plants simultaneously.
Aside from funding, Gotianun said the group is also reviewing the overall viability of the project.
SMPC earlier partnered with Meralco PowerGen Corp. to construct a 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas.
But in 2020, both parties agreed to terminate the joint venture agreement.
Gotianun said the company is not in talks with any potential partners at the moment.
The proposed power plant is the third phase of the planned expansion of the Calaca coal-fired facility in Batangas.
The project’s commercial operation would be anchored on the completion of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ Tuy-Dasmariñas transmission line expansion project.
NGCP has announced plans to complete the P8.1-billion transmission line in South Luzon before the end of 2025.
SMPC earlier said it would revisit the planned coal-fired power plant to help meet the country’s growing baseload energy needs in the medium term.
It currently operates two 300-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Calaca.
