GBP chairman Francisco C. Sebastian (3rd from left) and DOE undersecretary Raul Aguilos (2nd from right) led the toasing of wine after the ceremonial switching on of the 82-MW new coal-fied power plant (TPC1a) of Toledo Power Company. With them were (from left): Metrobank Group vice chairman Dr. Antonio Abacan, vice governor Agnes Magpale and Toledo City mayor John Henry Osmena.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
About 82 megawatts of power will be available for mining expansion projects of Toledo City-based Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC) and Toledo City on Dec. 26 this year.
Global Business Power Corp. (GBP) officially switched on the Toledo Power Corp. (TPC) 82-MW coal-fired plant in Toledo City that was attended by energy and local officials last Friday.
“Of the 82-MW, 50-MW will be supplied to Carmen Copper and 17-MW will be supplied to Toledo City (Cebeco III),” GBP executive vice president Jaime Azurin said.
The additional 82-MW coal plant (TPC1a) is an expansion of the existing 66-MW power plant (TPC1), which is also scheduled for refurbishing.
GBP broke ground for TPC1a in November 2012 to supply the additional power needs of CCC.
GBP chairman Francisco C. Sebastian, they are set to start supplying additional power to CCC by December 26 this year.
With the additional supply, Sebastian said GBP now has 426 MW of power supply from only 106 MW 11 years ago when they acquired TPC with a rated capacity of 66-MW and a 40-MW diesel-fired power plant in Carmen.
Rated capacity
Also included are the Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC’s) 246-MW coal-plant also in Toledo City in partnership with the Aboitiz Group and Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC’s) 164-MW coal plant.
GBP invested P10.2 billion for the TPC1a project. Ongoing projects include a 150-MW expansion in Iloilo City through PEDC which broke ground last March and is expected to be operational by 2016.
Azurin also said they will raise TPC’s existing coal plant (TPC1) capacity to 62-MW to augment Cebu’s power supply “in time for next year’s summer season and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) meetings.”
The TPC1 which is generating 60-MW now will be put out for refurbishing within a period of four months.
Investment
“We are set to spend P400 million for this and target to have TPC1 back online by March 2015 to produce 62-MW power,” Sebastian said.
Azurin said some power firms like the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) asked for an additional 30 MW to supply Metro Cebu’s power needs before April next year.
In his speech yesterday, Toledo City Mayor John Henry R. Osmeña thanked GBP for their continued investment in Toledo City.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale thanked GBP for helping boost the provincial government’s efforts to promote the province to investors by providing additional power supply.
Energy Undersecretary Raul Aguilos said next summer is projected to be a critical period for the country’s power supply.
Related Stories:
Mining firm claims union strike illegal
Displaced Danao miners urged shift to farming