Philippine President Gloria Arroyo inaugurates Mindanao Coal-Fired Power Plant
Mike Banos
January 6, 2007
Mindanao’s first ever coal-fired power plant will be inaugurated on January 8, stabilizing an otherwise shaky power situation in the country’s second largest island which is home to a fourth of the nation’s population.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will sound the “biggest ever” ceremonial gong to formally inaugurate the 210 net megawatt(MW) plant of Steag State Power, Inc. (SPI) at exactly Monday noon. She will be assisted by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Dr. Werner Muller, chairman of Steag’s Supervisory Board and former Minister for Economics and Technology of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Following the issuance of the Commissioning Completion Certificates and subsequent acceptance of the test results for Units 1 & 2, the Mindanao Power Plant commenced full commercial operations last November 15, 2006.
In what promises to be one big, grand party to start off the coming Year of the Fire Boar, SPI is pulling out all stops and rolling out the red carpet for its guests. Sources at the Lumbia airport confirm the company has chartered two Airbus A320 airliners to bring its guests from Manila and back.
A 70-strong press contingent including Manila-based correspondents of foreign media will also be around to record and share the event with posterity.
Also expected to grace the occasion are local and foreign dignitaries including German Ambassador Dr. Axel Weishaupt, Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, Trade Secretary Peter Favila, STEAG AG Management Board Chairman Dr. Alfred Tacke, SPI chairman Dr. Washington SyCip and SPI President Andreas Rubin.
After the launching program for the new plant, the President is scheduled to proceed to the Misamis Oriental provincial capitol to grace the “Tabo sa Umahan” agro-industrial fair marking the 77th anniversary of Misamis Oriental as a separate province.
“Tabo sa Umahan” (or farmer’s market) not only serves as a venue to exhibit Misamis Oriental’s best and finest agricultural products,” said host Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar M. Moreno. “It also brings together farmers, fisherfolk, traders and other stakeholders to discuss marketing opportunities, explore and develop the tremendous agribusiness potential of the province.”
The president is then scheduled to go back to Manila after the opening program and viewing of the exhibits.
Construction of the Mindanao Power Plant started in December, 2003 following the financial closure a month earlier and the signing of a purchase power agreement between National Power Corporation and SPI (then known as State Power Development Corp.) in 1998.
The power plant, which will be fired with Indonesian coal, will supply 15% of the power demand for Mindanao, which has lately been experiencing weather and environmental problems with its hydroelectric power plants and rising costs of fuel for its power barges.
The imported component of its coal supply was secured under a fuel supply and transportation agreement (FSTA) with PT Jorong Barutama Greston in Indonesia; with the contract stretching until 2019 for a maximum of 775,000 metric tons delivery per year. The plant is also mandated to secure 15% of its coal requirements locally.
SPI invested US$305 million to build the power plant, and a further PhP30 million for social development and environmental preservation projects to fully integrate the power plant into its host communities of Villanueva and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City.
Some 3,000 workers, mostly from Villanueva and nearby areas were hired during the construction phase, pumping PhP307 million in wages and salaries into the local economy and helping make the Philippine Port Authority (PPA) Cagayan de Oro Port Management Office a ‘billionaire port’ in 2004 and 2005 with customs duties collected when the bulk of the machineries and other equipment were delivered to the plant site.
