Monday, January 08, 2007 Minda's coal plant now operational
THE 210-megawatt Mindanao Power Plant of the Steag State Power Inc. (SPI) in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental will start its operation Monday.
The new power plant is the product of the combined skills and equipment supplies of at least 12 nations. It was built by about 3,000 local workers and is staffed by 180 Filipino and foreign personnel.
The Mindanao Power Plant was the realization of a purchase power agreement signed between the National Power Corporation and then State Power Development Corporation (which became SPI) in 1998.
After financial closing in November 2003, construction began December of that year and finished in 35.5 months.
The power plant, which will run on Indonesian coal, will supply 15 percent of the electricity demand of Mindanao, giving a much-needed shot in the arm of the Mindanao Grid, whose generation requirements can no longer be fully provided by hydroelectric plants.
A US$305 million was spent by SPI to build the power plant, and spent a further P30 million on social development and environmental preservation projects to fully integrate the generation plant into its host communities, particularly Villanueva and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City.
The low-emissions and safety measures of the power plant drew the approbation of local officials and of Presidential Daughter Evangelina "Luli" Arroyo, who had visited the plant site and its community and environmental projects.
The inauguration will be graced by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who will sound the ceremonial gong to formally inaugurate the new power plant at noon Monday.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Dr. Werner Muller, chairman of STEAG Supervisory Board and former minister for Economics and Technology of the Federal Republic of Germany, will assist the President during the inauguration.
Other local and foreign dignitaries expected to grace the occasion include German Ambassador Dr. Axel Weishaupt, Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, STEAG AG Management Board Chairman Dr. Alfred Tacke, SPI chairman Dr. Washington SyCip and SPI President Andreas Rubin.
