Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 11:52 PM October 14, 2016
The Sual
power station, Pangasinan’s first coal-fired power plant, produces 1,200
megawatts and is considered to be the country’s biggest power facility run by
coal. WILLIE LOMIBAO
SUAL, PANGASINAN—A
local environmental advocacy group on Thursday launched a signature campaign to
stop the construction of another coal-fired power plant here.
The campaign is
targeting the P47-billion plant to be built by Phinma Energy Corp. (formerly
Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.) in the coastal village of
Baquioen.
The plant is expected
to generate 900 megawatts of electricity for the Luzon grid.
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The campaign will also
be launched in neighboring Labrador town and Alaminos City, said Rosanna Marie
Soriano, chair of the newly organized Save Sual Movement.
“We are opposing the
construction of another power plant because we have not been consulted about it
and because we have been suffering the effects of the first power plant,” said
Soriano.
Original plant
This town hosts Team
Energy’s 1,200-MW Sual power station, the country’s biggest coal-fired power
plant located in Barangay Pangascasan, which began operating in 1999.
The town government
endorsed the Phinma project last year when Mayor Roberto Arcinue signed a
memorandum of agreement with Phinma Energy president Francisco Viray.
In a manifesto, Save
Sual Movement said the construction of another power plant will endanger the
lives of town residents because of the health risks and harmful environmental
effects posed by coal.
The manifesto was
addressed to President Duterte, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, Gov. Amado
Espino III, the Pangasinan provincial board and Arcinue.
Arcinue said he
conducted six consultation meetings for the second power plant but nobody
expressed opposition to the plant.
Phinma Energy is
preparing a feasibility study, which is one of the requirements before it could
apply for an environmental compliance certificate.
Arcinue said the second
power plant will start construction in the first quarter of 2017. —GABRIEL
CARDINOZA
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