Yt Framework

Aboitiz Power Corporation (PSE ticker symbol: AP) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Therma South, Inc. (TSI), on June 30, 2012 signed contracts that have a total value of $546 million with local and foreign contractors for a 300-MW circulating-fluidized-bed coal-fired power generation facility to serve the Mindanao grid. The project is located in Barangay Binugao, Davao City, and Barangay Inawayan, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

The contractors include Formosa Heavy Industries Corporation, and a consortium composed of Black & Veatch and Leighton Contractors (Philippines), Inc. Under the contracts, Formosa Heavy Industries will design, supply and erect the power block equipment, while the Black & Veatch consortium will perform civil works as well as engineer, procure and construct the balance of plant systems and facilities.

Site preparation activities for the project started last April 2012 under a construction contract with First Balfour, Inc. Commercial operations of the first 150-MW generating unit are targeted on or before March 31, 2015, with commercial operations of the second unit following three months thereafter. The Therma South power project will generate up to 2,000 direct and indirect jobs during the estimated 37-month construction period.
"Anticipating tightness in the power supply in Mindanao, AboitizPower is committed to do what it takes to build the Therma South power project at the soonest possible time. We have been an integral part of the Mindanao power sector since the 1930s. We will continue to invest in power generation projects to support the growth of Mindanao today and in the future," said Erramon Aboitiz, AboitizPower president and CEO.

Black & Veatch will bring  considerable international expertise in leading the consortium, and, in 2011, was ranked as the number one engineering company in power generation services by Engineering News-Record.

"Our focus is to deliver an efficient and world class power solution in the region that supports this important need for critical energy infrastructure,” said Dr. Hoe Wai Cheong, Asia and MEIEA regions Managing Director, Black & Veatch’s global energy business.

Leighton Contractors (Philippines), Inc. has had a continuous presence in the country for close to 20 years, and is a subsidiary of leading international contractor, Leighton Asia, India and Offshore.

“We are proud to be part of the consortium awarded this project. Leighton has been an integral partner in the development of major building, mining and power projects in the Philippines. We are looking forward to working with AboitizPower to deliver the Therma South power project,” said Boyd Merrett, Leighton Asia, India and Offshore’s Executive General Manager for Mongolia, the Philippines and Guam.

The Therma South power project has received approvals from the Davao City Council and the Municipal Council of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur. It was also granted an Environmental Compliance Certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Environmental Management Bureau.

“This  coal-fired plant will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology that will meet stringent international health, safety and environmental standards to ensure that the facility will have the least adverse impact on the environment and surrounding communities,” Aboitiz said.

"We have a strong track record in adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in carrying out our responsibilities, while developing and operating power generation facilities, and resolving to advance the well-being of the communities and the environment that they affect," Aboitiz said.

For nearly 80 years, AboitizPower has been at the forefront of developing and operating power generating plants using various technologies throughout the country.  Aboitiz also noted that the project will provide the Davao area, and Mindanao as a whole, with reliable, dependable and competitively-priced power, thereby strengthening the region’s position as a destination for business, investment and tourism