CEBU, Philippines - The Salcon Power Corp. yesterday announced its plan to build two Greenfield 100-megawatt power plants inside the Naga Power Plant Complex to help support the sustainable growth of the economy of Cebu and the rest of the Visayas.
SPC senior manager Cesar Villegas told the 888 News Forum at the Marco Polo Plaza that the plants are in response to the call of the City of Naga led by Mayor Valdemar Chiong for the construction of a new clean coal power plant.
Villegas said the coal-fired plants would be built using the latest in the most environment-friendly circulating fluidized bed combustion technology in partnership with the Korean Electric Power Corp.
SPC and KEPCO have previously partnered in the construction and operation of the 200MW power plant now operational in Naga.
Villegas said the KEPCO-SPC plant has proven to be a reliable power supplier to the Visayas grid since it began operation.
“The new power plants should be operational three to four years once the SPC (is) given the approval to begin construction,” he said.
The corporation recently exercised its right to top the bid of the winning bidder of the 150MW Naga Power facility.
Villegas also announced that SPC has wired to the Development Bank of the Philippines account of the Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management Corporation P1.143 billion, which is five percent higher than the P1.088 bid of the winning supplier.
The construction of the new plants would be carried out in partnership with the local government of Naga, which has hosted SPC since 1994.
Also, amid privatization talks for the power plants in their city, Chiong led some residents and officials in protesting the planned rehabilitation of two 30-year-old power plants.
Chiong said that although the city would earn millions in, the old plants are simply already harmful to the environment.
After three decades of operation, the two plants’ generation capacity is down to 14MW and 30MW from 50MW and 55MW, respectively.—(FREEMAN)