By CHENEEN R. CAPON
Business leaders in Mindanao lauded the announced full commercial operation on Friday of the first 150 megawatt (MW) unit of the Aboitiz subsidiary 300 MW Therma South Inc. (TSI) in Barangay Binugao, Toril District, Davao City.
“TSI full operation will be a welcome development for the whole Mindanao Grid because it will help to stabilize the (power supply of the) whole grid,” Mindanao Business Council chair Vicente T. Lao told EDGE Davao yesterday.
Lao said the stabilized power supply will help entice more investors to expand their operation here.
“A lot of investors are already poised to start their expansion in Mindanao,” Lao said, adding that now that the power problem is almost solved, “the only obstacle now is the approval of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)” which is expected to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao.
For his part, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., (DCCCII) president Antonio dela Cruz told EDGE Davao that the operation of the coal-fired power plant has long been awaited by the business sector of the city.
“This is what we are waiting for,” Dela Cruz said.
The city’s business operations have been adversely affected by scheduled rotating blackouts implemented by the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) because of the inadequate power supply coming from the National Power Corporation (NPC).
The DLPC has contracted 50 MW from the 150MW Unit 1 of TSI. It will be added to its contracted capacity to supply the increasing power demand of Davao City and some parts of Davao del Norte.
Dela Cruz said with the increase in power supply, more investments will come into the city.
“We will expect more investments to come in Davao, especially in manufacturing,” he said.
Dela Cruz also said the commercial operation of the TSI “will be also good to other local government units in the Davao Region” because the plant will be able “share it extra capacity.”
AboitizPower yesterday said the first of two 150-MW units of its Therma South Energy Project in Davao City will begin full commercial operations starting Friday, September 18.
The power plant will deliver contracted power to more than 20 electric cooperatives and distribution utilities all over Mindanao, easing the power crisis that has been hounding the island for several months now.
