President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will lead local and company officials in the inauguration of a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in barangay Colon, Naga City, in southern Cebu tomorrow.
The plant operated by Korean Electric Power Corp.-Salcon (Kepco-Salcon) was built amid protests by environmental groups about the threat of air pollution and coal dust waste on one hand, and pressure by the business sector to solve recurring brownouts in Cebu on the other.
Work on the plant began in February 2008.
Commercial operation of the first 100-MW unit started last Feb. 28. The second 100-MW unit started last May 31.
“Our power plant could provide Cebu and other areas in the Visayas with reliable, stable, affordable and cleaner power until the local economy is strong enough to afford renewable energy sources on a wide scale,” KSPC president and CEO Bok-Yull Lee said.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the project is one of the biggest investments in the province.
“The plant will help ensure that this growth that we have achieved will and can be fulfilled with actual power,” Garcia said.
Lee said the plant has pollution-control devices and a team of experts to monitor environmental safety and health concerns.
A water treatment system in the plant converts seawater to be used in the boiler to meet the plant’s freshwater requirements and other needs.
The plant also has a wastewater treatment system.
The Department of Energy in Central Visayas (DOE-7) said power supply may reach critical levels in the region after 2015 if additional plants are not in place to meet the region’s demands. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus