Firms, Subic execs see new talks on coal plant

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Officials of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) are resuming talks to finalize unresolved issues involving the controversial 600-megawatt coal-fired plant here, the head of the state-owned agency said on Thursday.

SBMA Chair Roberto Garcia said they would address three major issues that were left hanging since the Court of Appeals (CA) granted a petition for writ of kalikasan that stopped the implementation of the project.

He said the project was stopped at the stage when the government and RP Energy, a consortium composed of Meralco, Aboitiz Power and Taiwan Cogeneration Corp., were revising a lease and development agreement.

On Feb. 3, the Supreme Court set aside the writ of kalikasan requested by environmental groups and the No to Coal in Subic Bay Broader Coalition, a group of environmental and renewable energy advocates.

The high court also upheld the validity of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) issued to RP Energy by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in December 2008.

RP Energy had signed a 50-year lease development agreement with the SBMA on June 28, 2010, for the use of 38 hectares of land in the free port.

According to Garcia, the two parties have yet to agree on the full value of the lease for the land on which the proposed coal-fired plant will rise.

The plant is being developed at Mt. Redondo in Subic, Zambales province.

The original lease agreement, Garcia said, was for a 300-MW coal-fired plant and P1 million in annual rent.

“When they proposed to put up a 600-MW facility, I said there has to be an amended lease agreement,” he said.

He said the SBMA board had wanted the proposed Subic coal plant to adopt the air quality standard of the World Health Organization. But RP Energy found that proposal “unreasonable” because other coal-fired plants follow the Philippine standard, he said.

The Inquirer learned that a group of American investors had met with Meralco officials in December last year to discuss the possibility of adopting liquefied natural gas as an alternative to coal.

Zambales Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II said the Supreme Court decision was not the end of the fight in ensuring that the planned coal-fired plant would not harm the environment and people’s health. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon