During the recent natural gas summit held in Makati City, Philippines, First Gen Corporation announced that its board has approved a $327 million investment to reinforce its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects.

First Gen president Francis Giles Puno said: “Our current gas supply contracts from the Malampaya field — a natural gas field located in the West Philippine Sea — will expire in about 10 years’ time, so we are already preparing for a post-Malampaya gas world to provide replacement fuel for our new and existing power plants.”

The firm has two plants, Santa Rita and San Lorenzo, generating a combined 1,500MW and currently powered by gas from the Malampaya field. Overall, the Malampaya natural gas project generates 2,700MW, which accounts for about 40% of Luzon’s power requirements (Luzon is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines).

The company is focused on developing two new gas power plants in Batangas, which is in the south western part of Luzon; together, these plants will cost around $800 million. One of them is the 100MW Avion open-cycle natural gas-fired power plant, which will cost about $130 million.

This facility will be adjacent to First Gen’s 1,000MW Santa Rita and 500MW San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants in Batangas City. The second project is the San Gabriel natural gas power plant; this will cost about $700 million and will probably be the most efficient gas-fired power plant in South East Asia with an efficiency of more than 60%.