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Friday, March 29, 2024

SMC’s coal plant not yet operational

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San Miguel Corp. on Tuesday questioned the motives of some groups calling for the suspension of the operations of its power plant in Bataan for alleged environmental and health violations when the plant has not started commercial operations yet.

The 600-megawatt power plant that will utilize the state-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed clean coal technology is targeted to start full commercial operations by August 2018. Unit 1 will be commissioned May 2017, Unit 2 by August 2017, Unit 3 by June 2017 and Unit 4 by August 2018.

SMC said these groups must have been misled into making unsupported claims concerning its operations in Bataan, adding that what it currently produces from its co-generation plant”•that primarily supplies power and steam to the adjacent Petron Refinery”•is predominantly limestone powder. 

This has been certified by the Environment Department as non-hazardous and is used as raw material for manufacturing cement, the company said.

The company said reports of “tons of ash” found along the coastline of a river, which is about a kilometer away from Petron’s facility, were far from the truth.  It said that based on a report from the provincial health office, the reported skin diseases of residents were actually scabies which were in no way connected to exposure to ash.

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