THE Therma South Inc. (TSI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power, is set to announce a detailed assessment report in the next few days on the damage of the second unit of its 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in barangay Binugao, Toril, Davao City.
Manuel M. Orig, Aboitiz Power Corp. first vice president for Mindanao Affairs, said the report will allow the power company to evaluate the cause of damage and timeline as to when the second unit will be fixed for commissioning.
"We hope to come up in the next few days with an announcement of our formal report regarding our two plants, the second unit is still under evaluation for us to determine which part needs to be fixed and how long will it be repaired," he said.
The 300MW coal-fired power plant is composed of two units with a capacity of 150MW each.
Orig also said that while the second unit is still up for evaluation, the first unit is already starting to generate power since Wednesday last week.
"The first unit already started commissioning last June 12 and it was already generated to the Mindanao power grid," he added.
Willie Rodolfo, Aboitiz Power manager for corporate affairs, said that even if the first unit is already generating power, it is still not up for commercial operation.
"The first unit started generating but it is still not in full commercial operations," he said.
More than 20 distribution utilities and electric cooperatives have signed up to receive capacity from Therma South, including the Davao Light and Power, Cagayan de Oro Electric Power Co. and Cotabato Light franchise areas. It will also serve electric cooperatives serving the cities of General Santos, Butuan, Tagum, Kidapawan, Mati, Koronadal, Surigao and Digos, among others,
It will also serve the Zamboanga provinces, Misamis, the whole of Agusan and Surigao provinces, the Davao region, North and South Cotabato and parts of Bukidnon and Misamis.
It was reported earlier that the second unit of the power plant's commissioning was disrupted by the Mindanao-wide blackout last summer that damaged the auxiliary components to its boiler. Among these components are the air-preheater and the electrostatic precipitator, which is part of the plant's pollution control system.