Coal plant 90% complete as of Sept.

ABOITIZ-OWNED power company Therma South Inc. (TSI) reported its coal-fired power plant, being constructed at the boundary of Binugao in Davao City and Inawayan in Sta. Cruz town in Davao del Sur, is more than 90 percent complete as of end September with testing and commissioning expected to commence in the next few months.

In a report to the Department of Energy (DOE) in Mindanao, officers of the 300-MW thermal power plant, projected the commercial operation of the power plant is still on schedule for first half of 2015.

According to Therma South president Benjamin A. Cariaso Jr., all major components and equipment, as well as the switchyard that will connect the power plants to the transmission assets of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) are now close to completion.

“We are looking forward to the completion of this project and together with our customers, we are looking forward to being able to make a significant contribution in alleviating the Mindanao power crisis,” Cariaso said.

“The fruits of the labor of thousands of our team mates will soon be realized and Mindanao will soon have a reliable baseload power plant to supply its fast-growing need for power,” he said.

Twenty-two distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in Mindanao have signed power supply contracts with Therma South. As of September 2014, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved 13 of these contracts.

Customers with approved contracts can immediately get power from Therma South once the power plant is completed.