MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), the power generation unit of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), said it may consider pursuing opportunities tied to the planned privatization of a 232-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Mindanao.

"We haven't looked at it yet. Could be. It's an opportunity," MGEN President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel B. Rubio told reporters.

Mr. Rubio added that rising electricity demand could open the door for additional generation capacity.

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is working to privatize the coal-fired facility in Misamis Oriental, the last remaining government-owned facility of its kind in the country. PSALM was created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to manage and dispose of the assets and liabilities of the National Power Corp., and a completed sale of the Misamis Oriental facility would leave no coal-fired power plants under government ownership in the Philippines.

The baseload plant, designed to run continuously to meet minimum demand on the grid, sits on a 55-hectare site within the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate. It began commercial operations in 2006 under a 25-year build-operate-transfer arrangement with the National Power Corp. and PSALM, an agreement that runs until 2031. The facility is currently operated by SPI Power, Inc., formerly known as STEAG State Power, Inc., which is 85% owned by Aboitiz Power Corp. and 15% by La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp. The plant is part of the Mindanao grid, one of the three regional grids that make up the Philippine power system.

"Of course, there will be interested parties. We'll look at it. I think there's opportunity in Mindanao," Mr. Rubio said.

As the operating agreement runs until 2031, PSALM's next steps in the privatization process — and whether MGEN converts its preliminary signal into a formal evaluation of the asset — are the immediate developments to watch.

MGEN maintains a diversified portfolio of thermal and renewable energy assets. As of July 2026, the company had a total net saleable capacity of 5,069.7 MW from conventional and renewable sources, along with 56.4 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage capacity.

MGEN is also developing a 1,200-MW coal-fired power project in Quezon province to help meet growing energy demand on Luzon. The company's renewed interest in coal-fired power follows confirmation from the Department of Energy that the project is exempt from the 2020 coal moratorium, under which the government froze all approvals for greenfield coal-fired power plants to help the Philippines raise the share of renewables in its power generating portfolio.

Once completed in 2030, the Quezon plant is expected to generate enough electricity to service at least five million households.

Editor's Note: 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.

— Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Source: BusinessWorld