Philippine utility to study coal, ammonia co-firing

The Thai parent company of Philippine utility Quezon Power has agreed to conduct a feasibility study on co-firing ammonia at one of its coal-fired power plants with South Korea's Doosan.

The initial agreement between Thai energy firm Egco and Doosan will see the companies work together to carry out a feasibility study on potential ammonia co-firing at a 460MW coal-fired power plant at Mauban in the Philippines' Quezon province.

This is the first ammonia co-firing study to be carried out in the country.

The Mauban coal-fired power plant is a sub-critical facility that has been operational since 2000. It operates as a baseload power plant for the Luzon grid, the largest of the three electrical grids in the Philippines, selling its output to power distribution company Manila Electric (Meralco).

The study to test ammonia co-firing is part of Egco's push to reduce emissions by 10pc by 2030, Quezon Power said. Quezon Power did not disclose the volume of coal that would be replaced by ammonia, saying this would depend on the cost-effectiveness of the co-firing project.

Quezon Power currently sells its output to Meralco via a take-or-pay power purchase agreement (PPA) that will run until 2025. If a new PPA does not materialise between the two companies, Quezon Power will have to sell its output directly to consumers or through the wholesale electricity spot market where it will have to compete with other power producers in pricing, the company said.

By Antonio delos Reyes