Alsons shortlists 2 Chinese firms for coal plant project

The plant will provide baseload power to Zamboanga City residents and nearby areas.

The Alsons Power Group has shortlisted two out of five companies for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of its 105-megawatt (MW) San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga.

In a statement on Tuesday, Alsons said that it shortlisted Northeast No.1 Electric Power Construction CO., Ltd. (NEPC), and Shandong Electric Power Construction Company (SEPCO III). The former is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Energy Engineering Group. It was founded in 1951 and has been engaged in major power projects in China, Mongolia, Iraq and Turkey.

SEPCO III is a unit of Power Construction Corp. of China. It has been involved in key power projects in China, Nigeria, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina and various South East Asian countries.

Preliminary engineering and design work for the power plant is expected to begin within the fourth quarter of the year while commercial operations are set in 2023.

The plant will provide baseload power to Zamboanga City residents and nearby areas, and is expected to play a crucial role in providing baseload power to Zamboanga and stabilizing power supply in the Zamboanga peninsula.

“The people of Zamboanga City and nearby areas can look forward to a state-of-the-art baseload power plant right here in the city to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity,” San Ramon Power Inc. project manager Archimedes Donato said.

“These bid submissions are a testimony to the keen interest the SRPI project has generated and are a vote of confidence to the future of Zamboanga City,” Alsons Power vice president for project development Joseph Nocos added.

Alsons is a Mindanao-based independent power producer, which currently operates four bunker diesel and coal power facilities in the island with a total generating capacity of 363 MW serving key cities such as Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, General Santos and Zamboanga.

It is also entering the renewable energy sphere through run-of-river hydroelectric power projects with a total hydro capacity potential totaling more than 145 MW in Negros Occidental, Sarangani, Davao Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, the two Agusan provinces and Surigao del Sur.