Cebu is expected to have a more reliable power supply during summer and the midterm elections in May as AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI) has started delivering energy from the first of two new coal-fired base load generating units in Toledo City, Cebu.
This means an additional power supply of at least 150 MW for the Visayan Electric Co., Inc. (VECO) and electric cooperatives in Cebu, as well as for open access customers in Luzon and the Visayas.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, TVI parent firm Aboitiz Power Corporation said the second unit is currently expected to come online by May 2019. Each generating unit has a gross capacity of 170MW (net is 150MW).
The Toledo coal plant is a joint venture between AboitizPower and Vivant Corp., a Cebu-based energy firm.
“We are happy to have brought Therma Visayas online just in time to support the government’s call for more reliable energy supply as we head towards the midterm elections,” Danel C. Aboitiz, president and COO of AboitizPower’s Coal Business Unit, said.
“By having a reliable baseload plant on the island of Cebu, the residents and investors on the island will enjoy a number of economic and strategic benefits that include increased energy security, more competitive prices, and local employment,” Aboitiz added.
Customers with energy supply contracts enjoy stable prices in the long term and are essentially protected from the volatility of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
The Toledo facility uses the latest circulating fluidized-bed technology (CFB) and best available control technology (BACT) to minimize emissions to world-class levels.
It is the second plant in the Philippines to build a “coal dome” to safely store its coal fuel and prevent fugitive dust outside the facility, next to another AboitizPower unit Therma South, Inc. in Davao.
Construction of the Toledo plant started in 2015. At its peak, the project employed around 5,800 people, most of whom came from the host locality.
The Toledo plant is among the committed private sector-initiated power generation projects that are scheduled to go online this year. The projects would add nearly 800 MW to the grid,
AboitizPower has total installed capacity of over 3,000 MW as of end-2018 and is seen to exceed its target of 4,000 MW by 2020.
Another AboitizPower facility that is expected to go online this year is the first unit of GNPower Dinginin baseload power plant with 668 MW gross capacity in Bataan.
The second unit, which also has a gross capacity of 668 MW, is currently targeted for commercial operations in 2020.
Aside from TVI, Therma South and GNPpwer Dinginin, other Aboitiz coal plants are Therma Luzon, GNPower Mariveles and Pagbilao.
AboitizPower shares were trading at P35.90 as of 11:30 a.m. of April 16, higher than the P35.50 close on April 15. (Ventures Cebu)