NASA Night Map 2013 shows Mindanao is even darker than North Korea. Mindanao Power shortage has becoming more severe. The demand is higher while the supply is not enough for the entire rich island. Mindanao Island has been forgotten for decades.
President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed yesterday the contract signing of the ₱30-billion investment of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), Inc. to build power plants in Mindanao and provide 405 megawatts of coal power to the region's grid.
The contract was signed between Phividec Industrial Authority and FDC for the establishment of the 405 megawatt circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired thermal power plant in an 84-hectare land within Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.
With the project, President Aquino said Mindanao will soon become the "Land of Promise Fulfilled."
"These plants that Filinvest are committing to is 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," Aquino said. "By 2016, these three plants, by themselves, will be providing 405 megawatts of coal power to the Mindanao grid."
"With the energy these plants will be producing by 2016, we expect production capacity to be almost 470 megawatts above peak demand," he added.
"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," Aquino said, noting that the establishment of the power plant in Mindanao is expected to generate 2,000 jobs.
President Aquino said the development comes at a critical time when the government is working on a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that with the spur of economic growth in Mindanao comes more lucrative centers in the area aside from Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
NEW POWER PLANT IN MINDANAO –President Benigno S. Aquino III witnesses the signing of a land lease agreement between Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) and the FDC Misamis Power Corp. in Malacañang on April 17, 2013, for the lease of land for the construction of a coal-fired power plant that will generate on initial 270 megawatts of electric power, targeted to operate in 2016. Seated with the President are Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Enegry Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The agreement was signed by PIA Administrator and Vice Chairman of the Board Leo Tereso Magno and FDC President and Managing Director Jesus Alcondo. Others in photo are: Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) First Vice President and General Counsel Atty. Pablito Perez, FLI First Vice President Engr. Antonio Cenon, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) Chairman Jonathan Gotianun Villanueva, Misamis Oriental Mayor Juliette Uy, PIA Chairman of the Board B/Gen. Triunfo Agustin (Ret), PIA Corporate Secretary Atty. Raul Ragandang, and Poblacion Barangay Captain Leah Dagasuhan. (Richard Viñas)
President Aquino, meanwhile, said that while there is a current power crisis in Mindanao, power woes in the southern part of the country did not happen overnight as former local officials in the area relied solely on hydropower without ensuring the maintenance of hydropower plants. Illegal logging was also prevalent.
"So, when we stepped into office, we knew that we had to start working immediately. We began making the structural changes that encouraged the private sector to come in and put up power plants," Aquino said.
He said last year, Aboitiz began a project to build two coal-fired power plants in Davao, which will provide a total of 300 megawatts, which will be finished by late 2015.
"Businessmen normally would tend to be a conservative lot. But here, they are actually placing the other sources to a commitment not in terms of a demonstrated market that is already there but rather this is really a commitment of theirs to share in building a future, which is to invest when it is not exactly clear," Aquino said.
"Everything will materialize in the best light. So, it is a boat of confidence on their part, and this should be encouraged. And, we should help those who are actively helping to solve the problem instead of grandstanding," he said.
The Palace had earlier said that power woes in Mindanao will ease by 2015 as power plants takes three to four years to be established.
