Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC), the power generation arm of the Aboitiz Group, is planning to spend $150 million for the upgrade of two of its geothermal power plants.

According to APC Senior Vice President Luis Miguel Aboitiz, the budget is expected to improve the performance of the 289-megawatt (MW) Tiwi plant in Albay province and the 458.53-MW Makban plant in Batangas province.

Aboitiz said they will be drilling some additional geothermal wells to improve the company's capacity.

"Including additional steam supply and drilling, that's about $150 million over the next four to five years," he said at the turnover ceremony of the 20-year-old Tiwi-Makban geothermal power plants on Monday.

President Arroyo led national government officials in witnessing the turnover of the Tiwi-Makban geothermal plants to APC.

Also present during the awarding ceremony were Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) chief executive officer Jose Ibazeta.

APC gave PSALM a downpayment of P8.2 billion for the two plants, or 40 percent of the $446.9-million purchase price. The company will also pay P492 million to AP Renewables Corp. for land lease.

APC is targeting to double its generating capacity to 1,161 MW by 2011 from the current level of 578 MW. With the Tiwi-Makban plants, APC has investments in generation capacity of 1,040 MW, 77 percent of which are powered by renewable sources of energy.

More projects ahead

Aside from the Tiwi-Makban plants, APC is also planning to complete the rehabilitation and expansion of the 75-MW Ambuklao-Binga plants in Benguet province.

Once completed, the combined capacity of the Ambuklao-Binga plants is expected to grow by approximately 30 percent to 225 MW, with a combined annual generation capacity of 760 gigawatthour (gWh).

By August, APC's 42.5-MW Sibulan hydroelectric project in Davao del Sur will come on stream. The project involves the construction of two cascading hydropower generating facilities tapping the rivers of Sibulan and Baroring.

This will be followed by the commercial operation of APC's 3x82 MW coal-fired power plant in Toledo City, Cebu within the first three months of 2010.

APC is considering more acquisitions this year, particularly contracts for the independent power producers administrators (IPPA) in the Casecnan multipurpose power facility in Nueva Ecija and the San Roque hydro plant in Pangasinan province.

Aside from these, APC is planning to bid for the upcoming IPPAs of the Sual and Pagbilao coal-fired power plants in Pangasinan and Quezon, respectively.

Meanwhile, the company is also interested to bid for the 600-MW Calaca plant in Batangas and the Limay combined cycle power plant in Bataan.