Sarangani Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Alsons Power Group, said it started the commercial operations of the second 105-megawatt unit of the 210-MW baseload coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani.
“SEC Section 2 has completed all the necessary commissioning and testing stages and with the recent issuance of a certificate of compliance from the Energy Regulatory Commission, we are now officially declaring the start of commercial operations for SEC 2,” Alsons Power vice president for project management Fernando Corrales said.
SEC Section 1 began operating in April 2016 and introduced 105-MW of much-needed baseload power capacity that helped alleviate the power shortage in Mindanao. SEC 1 currently delivers power to more than three million people in the General Santos-Sarangani area and other parts of Mindanao.
SEC 2, which began construction in February 2017, is set to contribute another 105 MW of baseload power to more than three million people in Koronadal, Cagayan de Oro, Dapitan, Digos and other key areas in Mindanao
The $570 million SEC plant, the single largest power investment in Sarangani province and the entire Soccsksargen Region, is majority owned by Alsons Thermal Energy Corp., a partnership between the Alcantara Group’s Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. and Global Business Power Corp. SEC’s other shareholder is Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp.
“With the impending start of commercial operations for SEC 2, the combined SEC plant will be able to provide up to 210 MW of baseload power to help fuel the economies of major population centers such as Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dapitan, Digos, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Kidapawan, Koronadal and Pagadian. This is our way of contributing to the economic rise of Mindanao,” Corrales said.
Alsons Power, Mindanao’s first and most experienced private sector power generator, also begun preliminary construction works on the P4.25-billion 14.5-MW run-of-river hydroelectric power plant at the Siguil River basin in Maasim.
