VILLANUEVA, Misamis Oriental, Sept. 22 – Mindanaons will be embracing a new era of change leading to economic boom as President Rodrigo R. Duterte, the first Mindanaoan president of the country, switched on the biggest base load power plant in Mindanao during an inauguration ceremony held in Villanueva town, Misamis Oriental on September 22.
This is the first power plant in the country to be commissioned under President Duterte’s administration.
Envisioned to end the recurring power crisis that has plagued the region for decades, the power plant has a combined capacity of 405 MW (3 X 135 MW) and is owned and operated by FDC Misamis Power Corporation, a subsidiary of FDC Utilities, Inc. and a member of the Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC).
All three units are now synchronized to the Mindanao Grid.
Since the start of synchronization, the power plant’s commissioning power has greatly contributed to the stability of the Mindanao grid.
Long term contractual commitments have been secured for more than 85% of the project’s net capacity with various distribution utilities and large industrial customers covering 205 municipalities and barangays in Mindanao.
“We want to help this administration by providing power at the most affordable cost and in the most reliable way with technology that protects the environment,” according to FDC’s President and CEO Josephine Gotianun Yap.
The power plant is a multi-billion peso investment by FDC Misamis that will use the latest in clean coal technology: the circulating fluidized bed boiler technology.
Considered as the cleanest process to burning coal, the technology removes more than 95% of sulfur emissions. It creates negligible nitrogen oxide levels while generating useful by-products such as calcium sulfate for cement production.
“Aside from being the biggest investment of the Filinvest group, it is the realization of the dream of our founder, Andrew Gotianun, Sr. to help in empowering Mindanao,” stressed Gotianun Yap.
During the program, the power plant was dedicated to the late founder of the Filinvest Group of Companies.
Jonathan Gotianun, chairman of FDC said, “The Filinvest Group has invested in Mindanao for decades and we continue to place our confidence in the region because the country’s development can happen only if we make sure Mindanao grows alongside the rest of the country.”
Joining the President were Mindanao Development Secretary Datu Abul Khayr D. Alonto and local executives of Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City.
FDC, the holding company of the Gotianun-led Filinvest Group, is one of the Philippines’ leading conglomerates with interests in property development, banking and financial services, hotel and resort management, power generation and the sugar industry.
As of June 30, 2016, FDC had assets valued at P448.56 billion with stockholders’ equity at P100.54 billion. (FDC CorpComm)