MANILA, Philippines – Mindanao’s largest power plant, built by FDC Utilities Inc. (FDCUI) of the Gotianun family, is ready to supply the much-needed capacity to boost investments in the region.
FDCUI subsidiary FDC Misamis Power Corp. announced it synchronized the first unit of its 405-megawatt (MW) flagship coal-fired project in Misamis Oriental.
“This is in line with the Duterte’s administration’s thrust to promote regional growth most especially in Mindanao,” FDC Misamis vice chairman Andrew Gotianun Jr. said.
The power plant is expected to start commercial operations “after the completion of reliability tests in the coming weeks,” FDC Misamis head Juan Eugenio Roxas said.
He said over 80 percent of the plant’s net capacity has already been contracted with various distribution utilities and large industrial customers in Mindanao.
“This will help ensure the supply of reliable and competitively-priced power for the province and the rest of the region,” Roxas said.
The power facility is also expected to help secure investment potentials in the Mindanao area in line with the direction of the newly appointed Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi, FDCUI president and COO Mario Pangilinan said.
“Mindanao needs to grow like the rest of the country like Luzon and Visayas. And one of the things needed for the growth is attraction of investors through more power facilities,” he said.
Cusi earlier said his leadership will focus on the needs of consumers by providing 100 percent household electrification and by ensuring eliable, steady and affordable power supply.
Located in the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, the 450-MW power plant is a multi-billion peso investment that uses the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler technology, the latest in clean coal technology. Considered as the cleanest process to burning coal, the technology is also known for having higher steam generator efficiency thus lowering carbon emissions.
FDCUI is a member of the Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp.