ILOILO CITY – The David M. Consunji Inc. group is preparing to start of the construction of a 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Concepcion town in Iloilo as soon as it signs a power supply agreement with power distributors in Panay Island.

DMCI president and chief executive officer, Isidro Consunji, said creditor banks are ready to fund the P7.36 billion project in Barangay Nipa, Concepcion.

“We can go anytime as soon as they can sign the power supply agreement and it is approved by the (Energy Regulatory Commission),” Consunji said in an interview during the recent briefing on the power situation in Western Visayas on Thursday.

Consunji said that once a power supply agreement is signed with electric cooperatives, construction can start within a month and the coal plant will be completed in 24 months.

He said they are eyeing a tie-up with either the Indian company Thermax, or a Chinese company to undertake the construction of the project.

Coal plant projects are facing strong opposition from environmental and church groups for their perceived threats to the environment and human health.

But the Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted an environment compliance certificate to the project last July.

Consunji said they are prepared to accept a “lowest viable rate of P4.27 per kwh” from electric distributors who will electricity from them.

Wilfredo Billena, head of the Panay Electric Cooperative Consortium, said they will present their terms of reference to power suppliers including DMCI within two weeks to ensure that they will be purchasing electricity at the best possible rate.

The consortium includes the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) I, Ileco II, Ileco III, Capiz Electric Cooperative (Capelco), Guimaras Electric Cooperative (Guimelco), Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) and Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco).

The coal plant project will be undertaken by the DMCI subsidiary DMCI Power that has two major power generation projects: the 100-mw coal plant in Concepcion and a 15-mw coal-fired power plant in Masbate.

The coal-fired power plant is among the long-term measures being pushed by the energy industry and business groups to address the power supply deficit on Panay Island and the rest of the Western Visayas region.*NPB

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