WITH three power plants set for completion in the next 18 months, listed energy firm Vivant Corp. is eyeing P2 billion in additional equity investments to further expand its power generation portfolio.
The company, however, maintains a conservative outlook for this year on the back of the challenging power business environment.
“In 2016, the power industry faced a complex business environment due to low spot prices, stiffer competition and increased regulatory oversight,” said Arlo Sarmiento, executive vice president and chief operations officer of Vivant Corp., during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday at Cebu Grand Convention Center.
“Low wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) prices are expected to persist. There is currently enough generation supply in Luzon and Visayas (and) demand, and no plant retirements are expected in the short term. Declining volatility in WESM in the past two years supports this conservative outlook,” Sarmiento noted.
However, the official said the company will continue to explore opportunities that would expand and strengthen its core businesses in power generation and electricity distribution.
Vivant logged net income of P1.3 billion in 2016, up 23 percent from P1.1 billion in 2015. The power generation business bolstered the company’s earnings with net income of P984 million, up 36 percent. The distribution business, on the other hand, grew nine percent to P689 million last year.
At end-2016, the firm’s attributable generation capacity reached 253 megawatts (MW). Its investments also reached P4.9 billion as of last year.
Vivant’s net income in the first quarter of this year grew at a slower rate of seven percent to P238.79 million, from P222.95 million in the same quarter of last year, its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.
Coming soon
Sarmiento said three power plants will be completed this year and in 2018, boosting the capacity of the Visayas and Mindanao grids.
Minergy Power Corp. is expected to complete the construction of a 165-MW coal-fired power generation facility in Misamis Oriental in the second half of 2017.
This plant, according to Sarmiento, will service the power requirements of the franchise area of the Cagayan Electric Power Cooperative. Vivant’s equity share investment in this project is approximately P2.8 billion.
Another project for completion this year is the 30-MW diesel-fired power generation plant owned by Delta P Inc. The output of this facility will address the growing requirements of the Palawan Electric Cooperative. Vivant’s equity investment in this project will amount to approximately P200 million.
Therma Visayas Inc. is constructing a 330-MW coal-fired power generation facility in Toledo City, Cebu. The start of commercial operation for this plant is expected within the first half of 2018. Vivant’s equity investment in this project is P2.2 billion.
Other projects, in pre-development stages, include the 4.98-MW Central Palawan hybrid power plant and 10.87-MW Northern Palawan hybrid power plant.
Last month, Vivant also entered the solar rooftop business. It partnered with the local subsidiary of China-based ET Energy, a global provider of one-stop smart energy solutions for solar power for more than a decade. ET has covered over six gigawatt solar power stations in over 90 countries.
The joint venture created ET Vivant, which will service the electricity requirements of commercial and industrial users with average monthly demand of one MW.
Source: SunStar Cebu
