SUAL,
Pangasinan – Thousands of skilled workers are neededhere with the planned
construction of another coal-fired power plant.
Labor
officials are now encouraging residents to acquire skills particularly those
needed for building construction and power plant operation such as
electricians, welders, plumbers, plant maintenance crew, etc.
Provincial
Employment Services Officer Alex Ferrer welcomed this development, adding that
the thrust of the provincial leadership is to encourage more investors to come
to Pangasinan.
The
PESO chief said Gov. Amado “Pogi” Espino
III has been “very supportive in our programs and projects to provide ample job
opportunities for our people.”
He
said the province is ideal for new investments with its growing population of
highly skilled workers being trained through the province’s mobile skills
training program which has already churned out hundreds of graduates in various
technical and vocational courses.
2nd power plant
The
biggest power producer in South Korea, the Korea Electric Power Corporation
(KEPCO), is currently holding talks with municipal officials headed by Mayor Lizeldo
Calugay for the construction of the second power plant.
Should
the plan push through, Sual residents would benefit by way of employment as the
project requires thousands of electricians, office staff, security personnel,
plumbers, welders, masons, utility workers, etc.
Project
workers and employees needed should come from Sual 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 the barangay Baquioen where the plant would be located..
It
was reported that majority of Sual residents 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
project 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.
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