Misamis Oriental Coal Power Plant Inauguration
The President attended the inauguration of the Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) Misamis Power Corporation 405-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental on 22 September 2016.
The 450 megawatt coal-fired power plant at Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental is using a circulating fluidized bed boiler technology. Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) is a clean process with the ability to achieve lower emissions of pollutants. It is able to absorb 95% pollutants before being emitted to the atmosphere.
The Filinvest Development Corporation Misamis Oriental coal plant is the biggest of its kind in Mindanao. According to Juan Eugenio Roxas, FDC senior vice president and head of FDC Misamis Power Corporation, the first turbine unit started operation on 11 July 2016 and the second turbine on 15th of the following month. The two 135-megawatt turbine units are already producing electricity which is connected to the Mindanao grid. The third turbine unit will go online on 19 September of this year. The three turbines will supply a total of 405 megawatts to the grid. Roxas said that the coal will be supplied from Indonesia while 20 percent will be sourced locally.
“To date, FDC Misamis Oriental has a generating capacity of 270 megawatts and is currently supplying 200 megawatts to the Mindanao grid. We expect to attain the full capacity by this month,” said FDC Utilities President and Chief Executive Officer Mario Pangilinan.
The head of Mindanao operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Ambrosio Rosales, welcomed the entry of the new coal power plant, saying it will help secure the stability of the energy situation in Mindanao.
The new coal plant will help put an end to the recurring power crisis that plagued the island for decades and will help secure the stability of energy in Mindanao.
The FDC Misamis is the second coal-fired power plant in the 3,000-hectare property inside the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (Phividec) estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. The first was the German-led STEAG which was commissioned in 2006 with its two generating units capable of producing a total of 210-megawatt.
In March 2016, according to the NGCP, the island had a system capacity of 1,471 megawatts, with a system peak at 1,409 megawatts and a reserved of 62 megawatts. Luzon has a system capacity of 9,718 megawatts and a system peak of 8,358, with a reserve of 1,360. Visayas has 1,801 megawatts of system capacity, 1,607 of system peak, and reserve of 194 megawatts, ●