Manila Standard Today
Aboitiz Power Corp. plans to buy coal from Kalimantan, Indonesia and local suppliers for its planned power plant in Davao City.
The company has proposed to build a coal-fired power plant in Davao City to reduce Mindanao’s heavy dependence on hydro as a source of energy.
“Mindanao’s heavy dependence on hydropower has seriously eroded power supply reliability as it is highly vulnerable to weather conditions. Generating power with the use of coal will significantly reduce our dependence on hydropower,” Aboitiz Power president and chief executive Erramon Aboitiz said.
Aboitiz earlier said it was looking at a 150-megawatt coal plant costing $1.8 million to $2 million per megawatt.
Mindanao’s power shortfall is expected to reach 484 MW from 2010 to 2014.
Aboitiz said Mindanao would face power crisis unless new plants were built to cover the shortfall.
“Aboitiz Power wants to be part of the solution to the Mindanao power crises by building a circulating fluidized-bed coal plant within Davao City. Since time is of the essence, we are willing to take the risk and build this plant without bilateral contracts with wholesale buyers of electricity,” Aboitiz said.
He said coal plants would be the best source of electricity in terms of reliability, affordability and safety. Electricity generated from coal plants are substantially lower than fuel oil-fed stations.
“Davao City is facing a precarious power supply situation. Only 20 percent of the Mindanao grid’s dependable capacity is produced by power plants located in Southern Mindanao. Being the biggest user of power in Mindanao, it is best that Davao City build sufficient power plants to ensure the security of its power supply,” Aboitiz said. Alena Mae S. Flores
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