Aquino vows: No more power outages in Mindanao by 2015

MANILA, Philippines - Two years from now, blackouts in Mindanao will be a thing of the past after President Aquino gave assurance yesterday that the government is making sure the power outages on the island would be addressed with the construction of more power plants.

“These (infrastructure) will be finished by 2015, and by then, with all the projects we have lined up, we fully expect that this problem will be a thing of the past,” he said, as he witnessed the contract signing between Phividec Industrial Authority and Filinvest Development Corp. Utilities at Malacañang.

By 2016, Aquino said three plants will be providing 405 megawatts (MW) of coal power to the Mindanao grid, citing the 300-MW coal-fired power plant of the Aboitizes in Davao in 2012 and the Phividec-Filinvest project.

“With the energy these plants will be producing, by 2016 we expect production capacity to be almost 470 MW above peak demand. Moreover, these will diversify the energy mix, and more importantly, they will provide a more robust base load capacity for the region,” he said.

“In other words, we are not just increasing Mindanao’s maximum capacity. Beyond that, we are reinforcing their entire energy supply with more reliable and stable sources. We are making their energy infrastructure much more competitive,” he added.  

Aquino cited his discussion with Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, with whom he signed memoranda of understanding where Bandar Seri Begawan expressed its seriousness in bringing natural gas to Mindanao.

“These plants that Filinvest is committing to are a reaffirmation of this confidence. They are a significant part of the long-term solution. This signing gives us peace of mind that the permanent solutions are being put in place,” he added.

With its energy project, Aquino said Filinvest “will be injecting P29 billion into Mindanao’s economy, while giving jobs to 2,000 workers in the process.”