Coal-fired plant eyed in Cadiz City

CADIZ City Mayor Patrick Escalante said Wednesday that a conglomerate of investors is eyeing to put up a 70-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant at the Cadiz City Port Zone in Barangay Banquerohan.

Escalante said the investors are already processing the permits and that the target date of project completion is before 2015.

"We will finalize some of the details with the investors in Manila today. We hope that through this coal-fired power plant, we would be able to solve the looming power crisis in the province this coming year 2015," Escalante said.

He said that he was given the blanket authority by the members of the City Council to negotiate with the investors.

The needed investment for a 70-MW coal-fired power plant is reportedly approximately $140 million, based on the project estimate of $2 million dollars per megawatt for a coal-fired power plant.

Department of Energy has repeatedly projected that the power situation in the province would become unstable in 2015, more so because the province lacks its own power source.

Escalante said that a coal-fired power plant takes about two years to complete and that the plant being eyed in Cadiz will use the “cleanest” coal technology.

The mayor also expressed optimism that the establishment of the power plant, complemented with the city’s port which is now operational, will bring more progress to Cadiz City and its residents.