A 150 MEGAWATT coal-fired power plant will soon supply cheaper power to Negros Occidental.
In an interview last Tuesday, North Negros Energy Power Corporation president Ceasar Ibanez Lao-as said that the company is set to invest P14 billion or $130 million for the project that’s targeted for completion by 2016.
“The plant is located in a 10-hectare property near the port in Cadiz City. With this new capacity, we see the power rate in Negros going lower by half or at the same rate as Cebu,” he said.
Lao-as said that at present, Negros Occidental sources 80 percent of it’s power demand from Cebu which is significantly priced higher than the rates in Cebu.
Power rate in Negros Occidental is P12 per kilowatt hour, hundred percent higher than the rate in Cebu which is only P6 to P7 per kilowatt hour, Lao-as said.
Lao-as added that they intend to double production capacity to 300 MW in two to three years.
“The area can accommodate even as much as 1,000 MW, our expansions will depend on the demand growth,” he said.
As of now, the total supply within the Visayas grid is about 1,700 MW while the demand is at 1,900 MW to 2,000 MW.
“By 2030, we will need additional 2,000 MW supply in the grid especially with Cebu’s fast growing economy,” he said.
Their power plant will focus on providing power for Negros Occidental and support the economic growth of the province.
Negros Energy Power Corporation is a subsidiary of the Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures, Inc. that was incorporated in 2011. /Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap