Lopez-led First Gen Corp. said on Friday that the second unit of its 97-megawatt (MW) Avion power plant in Batangas can now operate on either natural gas and liquid fuel.
“[We have] been advised by its subsidiary, Prime Meridian Powergen Corp., that the recommissioning and testing activities of Unit 2 of the 97 MW Avion Power Plant using Malampaya natural gas have been completed and the unit is now commercially available on both natural gas and liquid fuel,” First Gen told the local bourse in a regulatory filing.
The company has previously reported that Unit 2 of the open-cycle plant went offline due to damage found in its gas turbine after a routine inspection.
PMPC, a subsidiary of First Gen, owns the Avion plant which is located within First Gen’s Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City.
The development comes around a week after the plant’s equipment manufacturer General Electric (GE) completed restoration works on Avion’s Unit 2.
Aside from Avion, First Gen has three other natural gas-fed plants namely: 1,000-MW Santa Rita, the 500-MW San Lorenzo, and the 420-MW San Gabriel. These three facilities also get their power from the deepwater-to-gas project.
Shares of First Gen in the local bourse inched up by 0.17% or five centavos to close at P30.10 apiece on Friday. — A.Y. Yang
