Power plant project to employ thousands of residents in Sual

SUAL, Pangasinan - More than a thousand workers are needed for the planned construction of the second power plant in this town.

This was learned from the representatives of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) which is currently holding talks with municipal officials headed by Mayor Lizeldo Calugay for the construction of the second power plant.

Also, more than three hundred regular employees would be needed for its operation.

Project workers and employees needed should come from this town as mandated by an ordinance which requires investors to recruit Sual residents for their manpower requirements, if ever available locally.

Aside from hundreds of jobs, some P800 million in real property taxes could be collected annually from the proposed power plant, which shall be shared by the province, the municipality of Sual and Barangay Baquioen where the plant would be located.

It was reported that majority of residents here welcomed the second power plant project, including womenfolk, senior citizens, farmers and fisherfolk, employees, and students who stand to benefit through the scholarship program of the project proponent.

The proponent is spending about two billion US dollars for the power plant project which has a generating capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

The project will boost and stabilize the power supply for the Luzon grid to do away with frequent power interruptions.

The construction of the second coal-fired power plant, he added, dovetails with the pronouncement of President Duterte who stressed the need to put up more coal-fired power plants to avert another power crisis owing to ballooning population and influx of investors.

Duterte said he sees nothing wrong with the government’s plan to put up new coal-fired power plants to boost power supply in the country.

“You open the Philippines for all power players, I guarantee you the electricity will become cheaper,” Duterte repeatedly said as he inaugurated several coal-fired power plants in Visayas and Mindanao, the latest of which was the 405-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental.

 “At this time, whoever is the president of the Philippines would always contend with coal. There’s so much coal still that can be utilized by civilization for the next 50 to 70 years..... You open the Philippines for all power players, I guarantee you the electricity will become cheaper,” he said.

The President stressed that there should be no problem with coal when it comes to pollution owing to the advent of new technologies.

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”.

Its high efficiency can reach of up to 45% which substantially cut its GHG emission by 30% compared to its predecessors or older coal fired power plants having efficiencies as low as 33% only.

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