AboitizPower’s 150MW coal in Toril to go on full commercial operations

KIDAPAWAN CITY – At least 150 megawatts of power would be added to the Mindanao grid once the Therma South’s coal-fired power plant stationed in Toril district, Davao City would be operational by Friday, an official said. Wilfredo Rodolfo III, communications manager of AboitizPower, said they already notified their customers that their plant will start to deliver power to their customers, among them are the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) based in Matalam town and Cotelco-PPALMA based in Midsayap town, all in North Cotabato province. The Therma South is a subsidiary of AboitizPower. ‘Perfect timing’ The timing of the plant’s full commercial operations is perfect as El Nino or severe drought is expected to hit the country, including Mindanao, which is dependent on hydro-electric power plant. At least 51 percent of the total power in the region comes from hydro, data showed. Rodolfo said the plant is designed to supply power to Mindanao grid 24 hours a day. The coal-fired plant is a baseload, and is designed to run 24/7.We’re confident with the construction of the structure this is going to be long-term,” he stressed. Inside the TSI compound is a coal dome, the first [and the largest] storage facility in Southeast Asia.It is where the fresh coal imported from Indonesia is stored. Rodolfo explained that TSI has chosen Indonesia to supply them the coal for two reasons -- first, logistics as it is easier to deliver the products through seas rather than through land and second, quality as Indonesia’s coal is high in quality and low in sulphur. But the plant is designed to take all kinds of coal, Rodolfo said. So if we can’t have Indonesia’s coal, we can use our local products here,” he explained. 24/7 carbon emission monitoring As to carbon emission, Rodolfo said that the plant has set up a continuous emission monitoring system – a device attached to the plant’s chimney, which monitors the emission, and is connected to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The EMB, according to Rodolfo, will do 24-hour monitoring of the coal plant’s carbon emission to make certain that it will not go beyond the limit set or stipulated in the Clean Air Act. To ‘sequester’ carbon footprints, the TSI has also established a ‘carbon sink’, where one of the company’s partners, the Matigsalog tribe in Toril, will plant trees. We computed trees planted in the area we call ‘carbon sink’, we can say that it is enough to absorb the carbon dioxide emission of our coal-fired power plant,” he explained.