Panay electric coops ink pact with coal plant

SIX electric cooperatives in Panay Island inked Friday electric power purchase agreements at Iloilo Business Hotel with Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC).

PEDC is a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), owner of the first coal-fired power plant in Western Visayas.

Jesus Alcordo, president of both PEDC and GBPC, said the cooperatives are the first batch of power users and distributors to sign purchase agreements to source power from the soon-to-be-completed 164 megawatts (MW) base load coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district in Iloilo City.

The initial power buyers are the Iloilo I Electric Cooperative (Ileco I) with four MW, Ileco II, 10 MW; Ileco III, seven MW; Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco), 12 MW; Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco), seven MW; and Capiz Electric Cooperative (Capelco), eight MW, on top of their existing supply sourced from other independent power producers.

Other electric buyers to sign purchase agreement with PEDC by next month are Panay Electric Company (Peco), the sole power distributor in Iloilo City; Guimaras Electric Cooperative (Guimelco), and electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental.

Signatories include board presidents of Iloilo electric cooperatives, PEDC Director Felipe A. Uygongco, SVP Jaime Azurin and Alcordo.

Construction is ongoing for the 164-megawatt clean coal power plant that utilizes the latest circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler technology, which ensures negligible level of emission and higher efficiency in removing sulfur dioxide and practically zero nitrogen oxide.

The first plant of 82 megawatts expected to be completed by end of September this year and be given another two months of testing will be commissioned by December to give power supply to the electric cooperatives.

The other 82-megawatt plant will be commissioned by February 2011 to start a new era of sustainable power generation in Panay and put an end to the rotating daily brownouts, Alcordo said.

The project is estimated to cost over US$405 million, with a P14 billion denominated loan for the project to ensure that electricity prices will have more stability reducing the exposure to foreign exchange volatility.

Alcordo said their purchase price is expected to lower the current generation price rate by P2 per kilowatt-hour. However, electric coops will have the option to have their price rate subject to approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The PEDC top official said power supply agreement is a long-term agreement between cooperatives and power generators PEDC and GBPC for about 15 to 25 years. This will also signal the positive entry of more industries and business and add livelihood to Panay and the rest of Western Visayas.

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