Category: Power and Infrastructure

OPOL, Misamis Oriental—A simple yet historic groundbreaking ceremony for the P500-million investment for the bulk water supply project of Opol was held last Wednesday, April 20 by the Lumayagan River in Barangay Tingalan.

AB Bulk Water Company Inc, a new subsidiary of A Brown Company, Inc. (ABCI), will undertake the bulk water supply project in partnership with the local government of Opol under the Private-Public Partnership scheme.

ABCI Executive Chairman Dr. Walter Brown and Pesident Robertino Pizarro led the groundbreaking ceremony.

“Mr. Pizarro and I are delighted to be able to participate in the first truly Private-Public venture, of huge importance—the development of water resources,” said Dr. Brown in a press statement. “We are very pleased with the level of cooperation of the local government of Opol. By working together, we would be able to improve the welfare of the local community and the province.”

Dr. Brown expressed hope that the project will be an example for other local communities. “Potable water is an essential and central ingredient in the life of any community, especially in light of the ongoing El Niño,” he said. “Let this groundbreaking be a reaffirmation of our commitment to seeing this project to completion.”

Meanwhile, Opol town mayor Max Seno expressed thanks to ABCI for its work in choosing Opol town as their partner in this latest endeavor. “The development of a bulk water project will trigger inclusive growth for the municipality,” he said.

A flagship project of Mayor Seno, the water system is expected to benefit some 25,000 residents of Opol and nearby areas like El Salvador City and Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.

The landmark event was attended by municipal officials of Opol led by Mayor Seno, Vice Mayor Thatsie Ortigosa, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, and bank representatives. Also on hand were barangay officials from Opol poblacion, Awang, Bagocboc and host barangay Tingalan.

Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC), the owner of the 2 X 135 MW Coal Fired Power Plant Project in Concepcion, Iloilo confirmed that the Concepcion-Barotac 138 kV Transmission Line (TL) including the new Concepcion 138kV GIS Substation and the expansion of Barotac Viejo Substation constructed by PCPC are now energized.

“The immediate completion of the associated transmission facilities can be attributed to the hard work of the whole Transmission Line team of PCPC and the dedicated effort and full support that NGCP extended to us,” Mr. Roel Z. Castro, PCPC President and Chief Executive Officer said.

Mr. Castro also mentioned that another factor that contributed to the fast completion of the transmission lines is the early settlement of the Transmission Line Right-of-Way (ROW).

“We made sure that all those affected by the construction of the transmission facilities were compensated accordingly and that all documentary requirements are in place for the proper turn-over of these transmission assets to NGCP,” he added.

Palm Concepcion held the groundbreaking ceremony on the first phase in January 15, 2013. PCPC’s power plant will be synchronized with the Visayas grid by last week of April 2016, and will be delivering power supply to its customers in Panay, Negros and the rest of Visayas. Synchronization will be done in coordination with NGCP.

The company is scheduled to have its reliability tests run in the next couple of months and once this is completed, the first unit of the 2 X 135-MW plant will be up for full commercial operations.

“The schedule of the commercial operations is just right on track as what we have committed to our customers,” Mr. Winifredo Pangilinan, SVP for Project Development Group said.

Ten (10) distribution utilities and electric cooperatives have signed up with PCPC for their baseload power capacity requirements, who also need to deliver reliable and stable power generation supply to their individual customers (industrial, commercial and residential consumers).

PCPC is a joint venture of Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corp. and Jin Navitas Resource, Inc. Palm Thermal is a subsidiary of A Brown Company, Inc. (ABCI), a listed company primarily engaged in real estate, agribusiness and has ventured into the utilities and energy industry in recent years. ABCI’s other investments are: Hydrolink, which recently signed a hydropower service contract with the Department of Energy (DOE); and Peakpower Energy, Inc. (PEI), owner of bunker-fired power plants in Mindanao for the peaking power supply requirements in the area.