AboitizPower unit now online

CEBU, Philippines — Therma Visayas Inc., a subsidiary of AboitizPower, has started supplying power from one of its two 170-MW (150 MW net) baseload units in Toledo City, Cebu. The second unit is also expected to go online by May.

“We are happy to have brought Therma Visayas online just in time to support the government’s call for more reliable energy supply as we head towards the midterm elections,” Danel C. Aboitiz, President and COO of AboitizPower’s Coal Business Unit, said in a statement.

Located in Toledo City, the plant will deliver power to Visayan Electric Co., Inc. (Veco) and electric cooperatives, as well as to open access customers in Luzon and the Visayas.

Customers with energy supply contracts enjoy stable prices in the long term and are essentially protected from the volatility of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“By having a reliable baseload plant on the island of Cebu, the residents and investors on the island will enjoy a number of economic and strategic benefits that include increased energy security, more competitive prices, and local employment,” added Aboitiz.

The Toledo baseload power plant uses the latest circulating fluidized bed technology (CFB) and best available control technology (BACT) to minimize emissions to world-class levels. It is the second plant in the Philippines to build a “coal dome” to safely store its coal fuel and prevent fugitive dust outside the facility.

It started construction in 2015 and at its peak employed around 5,800 people, most of whom came from the host locality.

The facility is a joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corp. and Vivant Corp.

Apart from TVI, the first unit of GNPower Dinginin baseload power plant with 668 MW gross capacity is also expected to go online later this year, while the second unit, which also has a gross capacity of 668 MW, is currently targeted for commercial operations in 2020.

Once operational, these facilities will boost AboitizPower’s capacity and help address the country’s rapidly increasing demand for reliable and cost-efficient power. (FREEMAN)