Iloilo hosts state-of-the-art power plant

MANILA, Philippines - A local consortium has launched its first state-of-the-art power plant in Iloilo last week and expects commercial dispatch in the last quarter of 2015.

It also tapped Canadian-American company SNC-Lavalin as the project’s  engineer and manager.

The coal power plant triumvirate is composed of AC Energy Holdings Corp. (Ayala Corp.), Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corp. (A. Brown Co. Inc.) and Jin Navitas Resources Inc. (Rebisco Group).

The plant was formally launched in groundbreaking rites at the 30-hectare project site in Brgy. Nipa, Concepcion, Iloilo.

Officials said the power plant’s capacity is good for two135-megawatt units and the target commercial dispatch for the first unit of 135 MW is set on the last quarter of 2015.

The president of Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC), the corporate vehicle for the power plant, said the plant will use the latest technology.

 â€œThe power plant will use the circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) technology which is one of the most advanced and most fuel-efficient plant in the Visayas. It will use the latest Alstom Technology (Europe) for its steam turbine and generator,” PCPC president and CEO Roel Castro said.

The consortium has tapped NLSC - the consortium of First Northeast Electric Power Engineering Corp. of China (NEPC), Liaoning Electric Power Survey & Design Institute and Shenyang Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. – as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

Walter Brown, chairman of PCPC said the entry of the Concepcion plant is timely since the Department of Energy has identified 2015 to 2016 as a critical period wherein additional capacities will be needed in the Visayas.

The project has received full support from local business leaders and local officials as these sectors recognize that the new power plant will provide security and reliability of power supply to sustain the growth of the province.