Semirara power plant considered for strategic national project status
THE Department of Energy (DoE) said it was weighing whether to classify a proposed mine-mouth power plant in Antique province as an energy project of national significance, a move that could hasten its completion by speeding up the permitting process.
“I stil have to look at the project proposal,” DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters, adding that he might identify the project as nationally significant.
He made the statement amid questions about the details of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the DoE and the Consunji’s mining and power company aimed at speeding up the development of a mine-mouth power plant in Antique province.
The project would be among the first to go test the impact of Executive Order (EO) No. 30 issued on June 28, 2017. The directive seeks to streamline the regulatory procedures affecting energy projects.
“They have submit their work plan. They have submitted their proposal. They have to go ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission). They still have to go through that process,” DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters on Thursday night in an informal gathering.
“Hindi naman ‘yong parang binigay ko na sa kanila, magtayo ka ng planta. Hindi ‘yon. Preso ako n’on,” he said. (It’s not as if I have given the project to them, and they build a plant. That’s not how it is. I’d be in prison if that happens.)
Earlier this month, the DoE signed the MoU with Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) for a 50-megawatt (MW) power plant, which the company plans to build adjacent to its coal mine on Semirara Island in Antique.
The power plant will use indigenous coal as fuel to address the growth in the baseload demand and required reserves of Semirara Island along with the other neighboring islands and provinces, Mr. Cusi said.
He said aside from SMPC building the plant, state agency National Transmission Corp. will look after the construction of the transmission lines.
The plant will provide reliable and more affordable power to Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon, and even Palawan, which has signified interest, Mr. Cusi said. – Victor V. Saulon
