Another coal plant in Mindanao to rise in Lanao Norte

KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte—As green groups stepped up their campaign against “unclean power sources,” energy-generating companies are also rushing the establishment of coal-fired power plants in Mindanao areas.

In this town, the P50-billion, 540-megawatt coal plant project of Ayala Corp. and its partner, the Oregon-based GN Power, will start to rise in December, according to Mayor Rommel Arnado.

Arnado told Inquirer that clearing operations at the 85-hectare plant site in Barangay Libertad here has started, where houses for villagers that would be displaced by the project are also being built.

Employment

He described the coal-fired plant project as the biggest in Mindanao so far that will not only bring in employment for the people but also taxes to the town government.

Environmentalists assailed the apparent rush in the construction of coal plants justified by the crisis in electricity supply in Mindanao. Richel Umel, Inquirer Mindanao