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BY PRINCE GOLEZ, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte believes the Philippines needs more power plants.
With the country facing challenges in electricity supply, power generating facilities are necessary to “drive our economy,” said Duterte.
“Kulang talaga (ang power supply),” the President said at the ceremonial switch-on of Palm Concepcion Power Corp.’s 135-megawatt circulating fluidized bed combustion plant on Monday in Malacañang.
While coal plants are the “cheapest” and “safest” way to generate electricity, such facilities must be carefully operated, Duterte said.
The PCPC’s coal plant in Barangay Nipa, Concepcion, Iloilo is seen as a critical addition to the power generation industry in Visayas.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy said the new plant will ramp up economic development in the region.
“This 135-MW Concepcion power plant is a crucial energy infrastructure project to help sustain the economic growth in Visayas,” Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
Cusi envisions the $280-million facility to prompt a “livelier” business environment.
PCPC president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said the new plant is a combination of the “latest” and “most efficient technologies” from Europe and China.
“We are among the few who have used this technology with reheat,” said Castro. “As a [result], we are one of the most fuel-efficient plants operating and, at the same time, compliant with environmental criteria set by national and international agencies.”
He claimed the Concepcion plant has one of the lowest tariff rates among similar plants./PN
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