April 17, 2019 | 12:07 am
THE first 170-megawatt (MW) unit of
Therma Visayas, Inc. has started delivering energy to the grid, the company’s
parent firm told the stock exchange on Tuesday, adding to much-needed power
after the recent supply deficiency problems.
“We are happy to have brought Therma
Visayas online just in time to support the government’s call for more reliable
energy supply as we head towards the midterm elections,” said Danel C. Aboitiz,
president and chief operating officer of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s coal business
unit, said in a statement.
The unit’s output, at a net of 150
MW, comes a month before the second 170-MW unit of the coal-fired power plant
in Toledo City, Cebu goes online.
“By having a reliable baseload plant
on the island of Cebu, the residents and investors on the island will enjoy a
number of economic and strategic benefits that include increased energy
security, more competitive prices, and local employment,” Mr. Aboitiz said.
The two-unit plant will deliver
power to Visayan Electric Co., Inc. and electric cooperatives, as well as to
open-access customers in Luzon and the Visayas, the company said.
It added that customers with energy
supply contracts could expect stable electricity prices in the long term as
they are protected from the volatile prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot
Market.
AboitizPower said the Toledo power
plant is using the latest circulating fluidized-bed technology and best
available control technology to minimize emissions to world-class levels.
“It is the second plant in the
Philippines to build a ‘coal dome’ to safely store its coal fuel and prevent
fugitive dust outside the facility,” it said.
The project, a joint venture between
AboitizPower and Vivant Corp., started construction in 2015. At its peak, it
employed about 5,800 people, mostly from the host community.
Later this year, AboitizPower
expects the first unit of its 668-MW GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. to also go
online. The second unit of the two-unit super-critical coal-fired power plant
in Dinginin, Bataan is targeted for commercial operations in 2020.
“Once operational, these facilities
will boost AboitizPower’s capacity and help address the country’s rapidly
increasing demand for reliable and cost-efficient power,” the listed company
said. — Victor V. Saulon
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