MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGEN) is seeking to join the latest power supply bidding opened by its parent company as it moves forward with plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Atimonan, Quezon province.

"Hopefully, when we win it, we can build it. This is the last opportunity for MGEN to execute Atimonan," MGEN President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio told reporters last week.

The auction carries high stakes for a project first proposed in 2015: Mr. Rubio directly tied the plant's construction to winning the contract.

Parent company Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has launched a competitive selection process for a 15-year power supply agreement covering 900 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity, or electricity intended to meet continuous demand. The contract covers an initial 600 MW beginning Feb. 26, 2031, followed by an additional 300 MW from Feb. 26, 2032, subject to approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

According to Mr. Rubio, MGEN intends to develop the 1,200-MW Atimonan project as a coal-fired facility rather than pursue an earlier proposal to convert it into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant.

"Atimonan will be coal. If we won't win it with coal now, I don't think Luzon needs another LNG terminal. If we're going to expand gas, it will be in Batangas," he said. "If we repurpose Atimonan as an LNG power facility, it won't be competitive," he added.

Project Background

Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E), an MGEN subsidiary, initially proposed the project as a 1,200-MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant under an environmental compliance certificate issued in 2015. The company subsequently considered converting the facility into a natural gas-fired plant. A project description document submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources laid out plans for a 2,400-MW combined-cycle natural gas power plant, along with an LNG terminal and a floating storage unit at the site.

MGEN later revived the coal-fired project after the Department of Energy (DoE) confirmed that it was not covered by the government's 2020 moratorium on new coal power developments. In July 2025, the DoE reaffirmed the project's status as a committed project, allowing A1E to continue processing the permits required for its development. The moratorium restricts the development of new coal-fired power plants but allows certain projects to proceed, including those already committed to expansion and indicative projects that have made substantial progress.

With the coal plan back in place, the project's path forward now runs through Meralco's selection process, the ERC's review of any resulting supply agreement, and A1E's continued permit processing.

MGEN's Portfolio

As of July 2026, MGEN reported a total net saleable capacity of 5,069.7 MW across its conventional and renewable energy portfolio, alongside 56.4 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage capacity. At 1,200 MW, the Atimonan facility, if built as planned, would add capacity equal to roughly a quarter of that existing total.

Disclosure

Meralco's controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Reported by Sheldeen Joy Talav; originally published by BusinessWorld.