By Juzel L. Danganan
MANILA, April 8 (PNA) – Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC), a subsidiary of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., is ready to put into commercial operations its 210-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani province, with its 140-member technical team.
”The operations and maintenance team that will man the SEC plant is already in place and ready to hit the ground running once operations commence. A total of 140 people — many of them licensed chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineers — were hired for the plant’s Organization, Operations and Maintenance teams as early as November 2014.” SEC said in a statement Wednesday.
SEC noted that most of the hires came from General Santos City, Sarangani, South Cotabato and other places in Mindanao.
The power generating company said it was ready to be online by the fourth quarter of 2015, with the first phase which has a capacity of 105 MWs.
SEC hired Finnish power plant manager Jori Liimatta and American operations and maintenance (O&M) manager Richard Mark Jones to guide, train, coach and supervise the plant’s work force.
Liimatta praised the young new hires whom had an average grade of 98 in all the courses they had taught.
“The most important part of the operations is the people. Without the right people, you can’t do it. We wanted to find the right people who possess the willingness to learn. We’re fortunate to train the people and we are pleasantly surprised that we have recruited intelligent, young individuals who are willing to learn. They have maintained an average score of 98 in all courses we’ve taught. The ones that were hired are truly exceptional,” Liimatta said.
The plant has a project cost of USD 570 million and is the biggest investment in Region 12.
Nicandro Fucoy, Alsons Power Project Implementation Vice President and Head of Coal Operations, said the plant’s full capacity would alleviate the power problems in Mindanao, powering up houses of more than six million people.
The first phase will power the provinces of Sarangani, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur; the cities of General Santos, Iligan, Bayugan, Butuan, Samal, and Tagum as well as key municipalities in Davao del Norte and South Cotabato.
Upon reaching its full 210-MW capacity, it will also power the entire province of South Cotabato, the whole province of Zamboanga del Norte and key areas of North Cotabato. It will include the cities of Dagupan, Dipolog, Koronadal and Kidapawan.
Meanwhile, Alsons Power is also developing the 105-MW San Ramon Power, Inc. (SRPI) coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City.
It currently holds three diesel plants in Mindanao to its portfolio, namely the Mapalad Power Corp.’s 103-MW plant in Iligan City, the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power Corp. facility in Alabel, Sarangani and the 100-MW power plant of the Western Mindanao Power Corp. in Zamboanga City. (PNA)