Coal-fired power plant in Sarangani to be completed end-2015

Edwin G. Espejo

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Coal-fired power plant in Sarangani to be completed end-2015
Construction at the Alsons Power-controlled Sarangani Energy Corporation is on 24/7, as the Korean contractor Daelim Industrial Company rushes to meet the completion date target



SARANGANI, Philippines – Construction of the 105-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani, is on target and will be able to deliver power supply to the South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) by end-2015.

Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) project manager Ferdinand Corrales said on Thursday, June 11, that they have almost completed the common facilities of the two-phased power plant construction to allay fears it will face similar delays suffered by another coal-fired power plant project in Davao City.

Daelim Industrial Company won the contract to build the first 105-MW plant of the 210-MW power plant complex of the Alson Power-controlled SEC.

“No less than the Daelim president visited the construction site last month and gave us assurance that it will be able to meet the target completion date,” Corrales said.

The project cost for the first phase that included common facilities was pegged at $310 million.

On target

Corrales said Daelim will incur heavy penalties should there will be slippage in the target date completion.

He declined to give figures but said the penalty will be “substantial” as it will also cover losses SEC will incur in case of delay in delivering supply to Socoteco II.

SEC said they have already completed the construction of the jetty, smoke stack, boilers, and cooling tower.

But Daelim has yet to install the electrostatic precipitator and the combustion chamber of the power plant. The Korean firm has also yet to deliver the plant’s turbine engines.

Earlier, Alson’s Power Vice President Nicandro Fucoy said they could test-fire the plant’s combustion engines before the end of the last quarter this year and could go on full commercial stream by the first quarter of 2016.

SEC is committed to deliver 70-MW of base load supply to Socoteco II by the end of 2015 or early next year at the latest.

Socoteco II is supplying electricity to General Santos City, Sarangani, and the towns of Tupi, Polomolok, and Tampakan in South Cotabato. Its peak demand is estimated to go as high as 115MW and demand is increasing at an annual rate of 4.2%.

Only 42MW of Socoteco II’s power supply come from the hydroelectric plant supplied allocation from the National Power Corporation.

The rest of Socotecto’s requirement is sourced from Therma Marine, Mapalad Power Plant, Sol Energy, and Peak Power – all diesel-fired power plants.

Lower electricity rates

Terms of the supply contract have not been publicly disclosed but Corrales said the cost of electricity in the Socoteco II franchise area is expected to drop substantially once its power plant goes on commercial stream.

With the bulk of its power supply coming from diesel-powered plants, the average cost of electricity of Socoteco II has gone up to P8.35 ($0.19) per kilowatt hour (kWh) including transmission, distribution, and other components.

Transmission cost is expected to dramatically decrease as supply from SEC will no longer run though the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) power lines.

Transmission costs including fit-all and losses are averaging P1.40 ($0.031) per kWh. 

At the time Socoteco II and SEC were negotiating for the terms of the supply contract, the ballpark figure for the cost electricity from Socoteco was projected P5 ($0.11) to P6 ($0.13) per kWh.

Corrales however said the generation charge will be dependent on the cost of coal and the peso-dollar exchange rates. Rappler.com

$1 = P45.36

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