CEBU CITY, Philippines - Another power firm from Korea has expressed interest in putting up a power plant in Cebu to help address the impending power supply shortage in the entire province. Officials of the Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd. (KOSPO), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation, made a personal call on Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to signify their interest in putting up another power plant in the province. ''We are proposing this project for business decision and to help the Philippines since the country needs it,'' said senior manager Byeong Jin Choi of the Overseas Business Team, Business Development Department of KOSPO. During the meeting, Garcia told the visiting Korean businessmen that there are already two power plants ready for completion within this year. Once done, said power plants are expected to give the province an additional capacity of 446 megawatts. The additional power supply would be provided by the Kepco-Salcon Power Corporation and Cebu Energy Development Corporation. Garcia said such additional power was initially projected to be enough for the next 10 years. However, she said that at the rate Cebu is developing, with power requirement alone rising at an average of 12 to 14 percent annually, this additional capacity of 446MW might only be good for the next three to four years. ''We must sustain this growth and we must continue to encourage investors in the power industry,'' Garcia said in a news conference. KOSPO is looking into the report of the Governor and the firm will be looking for a possible site where it can put up the power plant it is proposing to build.
KOSPO's business portfolio lists among its products bituminous coal, liquid natural gas (LNG), pumped water, wind power and solar photovoltaic power plants. Garcia says environment advocates would be glad to know about the possibility that the South Korean company would consider the putting up of a wind power plant. ''This is something very positive,'' the Cebu governor said. ''It shows that investors are looking at Cebu and recognizing the fact that the climate for investment is very ideal here especially when I assure them of my whole-hearted support as I had already demonstrated
