Second Sual power plant to push through - Arcinue

SUAL, Pangasinan- Mayor Roberto  Ll. Arcinue told newsmen on Monday that discussion on the construction of a second coal-fired power plant in this first-class municipality is now in full swing, adding that construction might start before yearend.

The mayor made the disclosure after former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile called on the Duterte administration to act fast to address a looming energy crisis.

Enrile said the country’s energy situation might worsen as demand would increase with the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program.

A coal power plant in Sual, Pangasinan.

            “We do not have any source of hydrocarbon energy in the country except Malampaya. If a war happens in Russia or in the Middle East or in Africa or in Latin America that will affect the supply of crude, what do you think will happen here? In one week’s time, we will not have enough supply of power,” Enrile said.

He said chaos would likely to happen as prices of foods and other basic commodities would skyrocket as cost of production spikes up.

Having sufficient supply of energy, he said, would guarantee that Filipinos would be protected from the impact in the spike of prices of oil and other petroleum products in the global market.

“We must make sure that there would be enough supply for all our economic activities amid a surge in the costs of oil or even the lack of it,” he added.

Enrile said this would also contribute to the reduction of the cost of electricity and prices of goods that would greatly benefit consumers.

                                                        Timely

Mayor Arcinue said the proposal of Korean Electric Power Corporation or KEPCO, the biggest power producer in South Korea with branches in the Philippines and several other countries, is very timely in the wake of calls for the construction of more energy sources.

He said KEPCO is putting up the 1,000-megawatt power plant at an estimated cost of two billion US dollars here.

The mayor welcomed KEPCO’s initiative as this would create more than a thousand jobs for Pangasinenses as well as millions of additional revenues estimated at P800 million annually for the province and the municipality.

 Arcinue said there is no problem about pollution because of the advent of new coal technologies that greatly reduce if not eliminate greenhouse gas emission.

Among these new technologies is the ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant which at present is considered as a “High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE) Technology” and as a “green technology”.

For the power plant here, KEPCO would be using the ultra-supercritical technology which is the latest in coal power generation.