Consortium inks long-term coal supply for B power plant
CADIZ CITY, Negros Occidental - North Negros Energy Power Corp. (NNEPC) has signed a long term coal supply agreement with Thailand-based Energy Earth Public Company Ltd. (Energy Earth) for the latter to supply NNEPC’S coal-fired power plant here with at least 20,000,000 metric tons over the next 25 years.
NNEPC is an affiliate of a consortium comprised of Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc. (Apervi), a Bacolod-based mining, construction, and energy producer company and French power and investment firm, Sparkling Capital Limited of France.
Top officials of the Apervi-Sparkling consortium led by Apervi President and Chief Executive Officer Ceasar Ibañez Lao- as and Sparkling Commodities Chairman Jacques Assouline signed the agreement with Energy Earth Chairman Phisudhi Phihakendr last Monday at the L’Fisher Hotel in the provincial capital, Bacolod City.
The Apervi-Sparkling consortium and Energy Earth also signed a joint venture agreement for mining in Indonesia as well as a memorandum of understanding for the three firms to venture into other coal fired power plants in the country.
According to Lao-as, the long term coal supply agreement was necessary to ensure a sustainable supply of coal for NNEPC’s P15.5- billion circulating fluidized bed-combustion (CFBD) coalfired power plant. The plant, based in Barangay Banquerohan, Cadiz, is expected to generate 150 to 300 megawatts (MW) and address the 250-MW projected power deficit in Visayas starting 2015 to 2017.
“The Philippines needs to consume 14- 16 million metric tons of coal to supply the existing power plants but our country only produces four million metric tons,” Lao-as told media in a press conference, “so the remaining 10-million metric tons we need to import from Indonesia, China, and Thailand.”
Apervi-Sparkling will also serve as a platform for Energy Earth to enter into the Philippine market bringing its reputation of reliability and uncompromising standard with regards to commodity supply. In return, Apervi-Sparkling will take this as its initial step to becoming a major player in power production and coal supply in the country.
“We are committed to providing sustainable baseload power supply for the province of Negros Occidental,” Assouline assured.
For his part, Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said in his speech that once the NNEPC power plant becomes operational, he expects the province to achieve power independence. This, the governor said, will open Negros Occ.’s doors to major manufacturing business concerns which would have considerable reason in setting up operations in the province. “With reliable power supply, we expect Negros (Occidental) to import more than just sugar in the near future,” he added. The province, traditionally, accounts for over half of total sugar production in the country.
Aside from boosting Negros Occidental’s revenue, the power plant project could also very well create at least jobs for 2,000 Negrenses.
Lao-as said the power plant, the operation of which is targeted by last quarter of 2018 is expected to drop current prices of electricity to P8-9 per kilowatt hour (kwh) compared to the P14-P18 per kwh being pad by consumers currently.
Cadiz City sources 80 percent of its power from Kepco-Cebu through a submarine cable.
Lao-as made assurances that the power plant, though coal-fired, will not harm the environment. The project, he said, has obtained an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Apervi has also already conducted an environmental impact assessment study on the project.
“With social acceptability released, we can guarantee that this power plant will push through,” said Cadiz City Mayor Patrick Escalante.
Escalante admitted that environmental and church-based groups in the province have initially opposed the project. However, he said that apparently, efforts made by the consortium in assuring particularly the fishing community here of zero-discharge to seawater and proper ash disposition inland, have appeased project oppositors.