Semirara Mining and Power Corp., the power generation and coal mining unit of the Consunji Group, is spending P13 billion this year up, or up 62 percent from the 2016 level, to boost capacity and extend the operating life of its facilities.
Semirara said over half the total capital expenditures, or P7 billion, would go to the company’s subsidiaries—Sem-Calaca Power Corp. and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp.
It plans to spend roughly P4.7 billion to extend the life of conventional power plants and P2.3 billion to fund the regular maintenance of SCPC and SLPGC.
The company said funding for the power segment investments would come from internally generated funds and medium to long-term loans.
Semirara is also investing P6 billion to acquire dump trucks, excavators and other support equipment for its advanced stripping operations. The amount will be fully covered by internally generated cash.
The company is not boosting coal production this year but it will need additional heavy equipment to move materials and accelerate the final rehabilitation of the South Panian Pit.
“We plan to totally fill the southern portion of the Panian pit within the next two years so it becomes a stable landform. After that, we will undertake a massive reforestation program in the area to restore its ecological balance,” said Semirara president and chief operating officer Victor Consunji.
The Panian Pit was closed in September 2016 following the depletion of mineable coal reserves. Semirara has since moved its extraction operations to the new mine sites in Molave and Narra.
Semirara last week reported that unit 1 of SLPGC’s coal fired power plant was decommissioned due to an abnormal vibration of the equipment.
It said detailed inspection of the unit would be done immediately. Unit 2 with a capacity of 150 MW, meanwhile, is undergoing regular planned maintenance outage with the target date for the resumption of operations set on the last week of this month.
