Phil Sinter allots P1B for power plant project

The Japanese-controlled Philippine Sinter Corp. is investing P1.032 billion for a power generation project in Misamis Oriental.

The Board of Investments (BOI) has given fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to the project as it falls under the energy category of the 2007 Investments Priorities Plan (IPP).

The sinter cooler waste heat recovery power generation project will use the recovered sinter cooler waste for power generation.

It involves the installation of an 18.6-megawatt turbine-generator, boiler and ancillary equipment.

Philippine Sinter will start commercial operations of this waste heat recovery power generation plant in March. The operation of the cogeneration facility can synchronize with the power from the grid and will drop the power requirement from the National Power Corp. to about 5.7 megawatts in order to balance the supply of power for the sinter plant at 21.3 megawatts.

The sintered ore is produced at a very high temperature and needs to be cooled before storing.

Currently, the firm is using electric fans in cooling the ore and the heated air is expelled through heat stacks.

After the completion of the power generation project, the heated air from the cooling process will pass through the boiler before being expelled.

The steam from this boiler will be used to drive an 18.6-megawatt turbine producing electricity for the own use of the company’s sinter plant. In turn, the electricity produced by the project will be used to replace imported electricity purchased from the Mindanao grid.

The use of waste heat water for power generation will likewise contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions which is in line with the Clean Development Mechanism Project under the Kyoto Protocol.

The avoided carbon dioxide from power production has an equivalent Certificate of Emission Reduction (CER) under the Kyoto Protocol.