Toledo coal-fired plant needed for dev’t – traders

AN 82 megawatt coal-fired power  plant in Toledo City will ensure  stable supply and possibly lower power rates –  two incentives that would draw investors to Cebu said local business leaders yesterday.

“We should be planning for future growth so more plants, hopefully selling cheaper power, are needed without losing the need for affordable energy,” said Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alah Joseph.

Groundbreaking of the 82 MW plant to be operated by Toledo Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), was held last Sunday at the future plant site in barangay Daanglungsod, Toledo City located 50 kms south of Cebu City.

Philip Tan, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president,  said Cebu needs to plan ahead to meet its energy needs.

“That’s what makes Cebu different from other regions suffering from daily brownouts,” he said.

DOE Regional Director Antonio Labios said more power plants are scheduled to open by 2015 in the Visayas.

These include a geothermal power plant in Negros that will produce 20 MW by 2013 and a hydro power plant in Iloilo.

Another 82 MW plant will be set up in Panay by Panay Energy Development Corp. and Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC) will double their capacity to 164 MW by 2015.

“As of now we have about 310 MW of committed projects and about 580 MW of indicative projects  by 2019.

That gives us about 900 MW power by 2019 which is in line with our goal to have 2000 MW in the Visayas grid by 2030,” Labios said.

Despite high interest from investors in the power industry, Labios said they need to get more investors to put in investments in the generation sector.

He said the 4.6 percent annual power demand growth rate they based  projections on  is a conservative estimate.

“In Cebu alone, the private sector placed the demand growth rate at eight to nine percent annually and with a projected renaissance of the manufacturing sector, we need to be able to prepare for this. Power should be available,” he said.

As of yesterday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said peak demand in the Visayas is 1,392 MW with a system capacity of 1,611 MW. It said this gives the Visayas grid an extra capacity of 219 MW.

Cebu’s system demand is 708 MW and has an embedded capacity of 646 MW as of yesterday.

It’s importing 265 MW from Leyte and exports 180 MW to Negros giving a net reserve of 23 MW, the Visayan Electric Corp. (Veco) said.

“Metro Cebu’s  peak demand as of October this year is at 404 MW distributed to about 333,805 customers,” said Veco communications manager Ethel Natera. Veco’s franchise area extends from Liloan town in the north to San Fernando in the south. /Aileen Garcia-Yap, Reporter