[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’VISAYAS GETS ENERGY BOOST
Duterte to inaugurate Iloilo coal plant today’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is inaugurating today the Palm Concepcion Power Corp.’s (PCPC) 135-megawatt circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) power plant in Barangay Nipa, Concepcion, Iloilo.
The coal power plant, the first in Iloilo province, is seen as a critical addition to the power generation industry in the Visayas due to the increase in the region’s economic activities.
The inauguration ceremony will be held at Malacañang Palace.
President Duterte, along with Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi, PCPC chairman Dr. Walter Brown, and PCPC president and chief executive officer Roel Castro, will lead the ceremonial switch-on of the Iloilo-based power plant.
Brown is also expected to announce his contribution to the anti-illegal drug campaign of the Duterte administration.
The power plant is currently delivering electricity to customers in Panay and Negros islands and the rest of the Visayas.
Ten distribution utilities and electric cooperatives have signed up with PCPC for their base load power capacity requirements.
The power supply of Panay, Negros and Cebu islands are seen to further stabilize. These three have growing power requirements. Iloilo and Aklan provinces in Panay Island, Negros and Cebu are among the top tourist destinations in the country.
The CFBC power plant, which began commercial operations on Aug. 16, is a joint venture of Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of A Brown Co., Inc., and Jin Navitas Resource, Inc.
Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. said in a previous interview that the coal plant was expected to meet the province’s growing demand for electricity.
“Sufficient power supply is still a problem in Iloilo,” he said in Hiligaynon. “We all know that the province cannot progress without enough electricity.”
Defensor was also expecting economic growth along with the arrival of investors once the coal plant becomes operational.
The Concepcion plant’s advantage over other coal-fired power plants is that it uses European technology and equipment, PCPC’s Castro told Panay News early this year.
Briefly explaining how the plant operates, he said the first stage involves a vessel transferring coal to the plant.
“The coal will run from [the plant’s] Station 1 to Station 3 … and [then] to the coal yard, where it could be stocked for 45 days,” he said.
The coal is used to fuel the boiler, which generates heat for water to create steam that will “drive the turbine to rotate,” he said.
The turbine rotation generates energy that is converted into electrical power through a generator.
“It will [then] go to the substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines … to the transmission line,” and then to the grid and the power distribution utilities, or cooperatives, said Castro./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
