Sual will host 2nd power plant
SUAL—It’s final! This town can now lay claim to the moniker “Energy City” since it now boasts of hosting two power plants, perhaps the first and only in the country.
The negotiation for the construction and operation of a $1 billion power plant in Sual town is finally capped by the signing of a historic memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the proponent Trans Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation and the local government of Sual.
Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Francisco Viray and Mayor Roberto Arcinue, joined by Vice Mayor Dionisio Caburao Jr. led stakeholders in the signing of the pact for the project to be built in Barangay Bacquioen.
“We are signing a memorandum of agreement that embodies the commitment of Trans-Asia Oil to the municipality of Sual in connection with our desire to build a 900- megawatt (MW) power plant within your jurisdiction,” Viray said.
It will be the second power plant to be located in Sual, the first being the Sual Coal-fired Thermal Plant located in Barangay Pangascasan with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. .
Trans Asia Oil’s power plant, also coal-fired thermal plant, will be located in Barangay Baquioen, also a coastal village of Sual within the Sual Bay.
Viray, who is from Lingayen, was president of the National Power Corporation (NPC) during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos, went to Sual in 1993 to also ask the people to support the putting up of the 1,200 MGW coal-fired power thermal plant now managed by Team Energy.
He said he didn’t realize that after 22 years he is back to thank the people of Sual for agreeing to host another power plant.
VIray said the new power plant is another new investment in Sual that will result in inclusive growth aside from it providing tremendous economic benefits to the whole town and its people.
He said one of the terms of the MOA is the offer of scholarship grants to deserving students of Sual at the University of Pangasinan, owned by Trans Asia Oil’s mother company Phinma.
Meanwhile, Viray said the ongoing Environmental Impact Assessment was temporarily suspended pending the completion of the feasibility study.
The results of the EIA will be the basis for the issuance of Environment Clearance Certificate (ECC) for the project by the DENR.
Mayor Arcinue said two public hearings were already held on the hosting of the second plant, one in the town proper and another in Baquioen.
Barangay Captain Nelson Fontanilla assured the full support of his constituents and does not see any opposition to the project.
Mayor Arcinue told his constituents that if they do not act today, they will lose the opportunity to help prevent a serious power crisis that may grip the nation by 2020.
He said another provision in the MOA is a guarantee of continuous and reliable power in Sual 24/7 that will be the cheapest in the country.
In addition, Trans Asia will give a P110 million grant that will be spent by the municipality for education, environment, agriculture and the construction of a municipal seaport that will benefit fishermen and their families.
Barangay Baquioen is also assured a P10 million grant that it can use for its various developmental projects.
Arcinue reminded that by law, Sual is an economic zone and the people must let this happen. (Leonardo Micua/Tita Roces)
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