Toledo Power expansion project completed

Business Mirror
19 Aug 2014 Written by Lenie Lectura

THE Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday lauded the expansion project of Toledo Power Co. (TPC), a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) in the Visayas.

“The new capacity addition of GBPC will provide a signal to investors for future investment directions as more opportunities await them because the government, in partnership with the private sector, is continuously paving the way toward a better investment environment,” said DOE Visayas Field Office Director Antonio Labios in a statement.

TPC’s expansion project was synchronized to the grid in Toledo City, Cebu on August 17, two months earlier than the target schedule, originally set in October.

Labios said the expansion project involves an additional capacity of 83 megawatts (MW) that will directly benefit industrial power consumers in Cebu, specifically in the southern portion of the province and the rest of the Visayas.

In July DOE Undersecretary Loreta G. Ayson emphasized the importance of energy in addressing the regional economy which, in turn, supports the population and area-based development.

Meanwhile, the DOE has launched the Mindoro Island Power Development Plan as part of the government’s objective on energy sustainability and independence.

The said plan highlighted the potential energy sources and prospective plans for the improvement of energy facilities and services in the region. The DOE has already awarded 189.3-MW worth of renewable energy (RE) projects to different foreign and local developers.

The plan underscored the potential RE sources in the island such as 47.1-MW worth of hydro and ocean energy and 151.2-MW worth of biomass energy resource. There is also an estimated potential of 76.36 billion cubic feet of gas within Mindoro.

The proposed Batangas-Mindoro transmission interconnection line, which is targeted to be completed by 2023, is also included in the development plan. Once completed, the island will now be part of the Luzon grid therefore making the region independent from missionary electrification subsidies.

Likewise, the development plan suggested a study on the possibility of uniting the transmission lines of the Oriental and Occidental Mindoro. In doing so, it would improve system efficiency since the lines would be upgraded from 69 kilovolts (kV) to 138kV.

“The Mindoro development plan is an effort shared by the people of the two provinces. Careful energy planning and strategies are essential methods to secure the island’s growing industries and stir it toward progress,” said DOE Undersecretary Raul Aguilos. source