MAJOR GERMAN INVESTMENT IN RP INAUGURATED IN MINDANAO

12 January 2007 – Chargé d’Affaires, a. i. (CDA) Leslie J. Baja of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin, Germany reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the 210-megawatt hard-coal-fired power plant, a major German investment in the Philippines, in the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental was formally inaugurated on 8 January 2007 by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and witnessed by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Delia Domingo-Albert.

“The US$305-million power plant, built near Cagayan de Oro City, guarantees reliable, efficient, environmentally compatible power generation based on hard coal, since imported hard coal is used as fuel,” CDA Baja said.

With the installed capacity of 232 megawatts (MW), the electricity produced is targeted to cover about 15% of Mindanao’s electric power requirements.

The state-of-the-art two-unit plant is one of the biggest direct foreign investments in the region and a crucial energy infrastructure project for economic growth in Mindanao.  The main proponent of the plant project, which went into full commercial operation as early as November 2006, is STEAG State Power Inc. (SPI), a subsidiary of STEAG AG, the fifth largest German power generator.

The plant implements highly effective environmental protection measures, which complies with the strict regulatory standards set by Philippine environmental authorities. While the project includes social and environmental dimensions, SPI is involved in the construction of housing, reforestation and vocational training for villages around the area.

Ambassador Domingo-Albert expressed optimism that the project will spur further investments in Mindanao, including in mining and its related industries. “The STEAG power plant is among the major German investments in the Philippines, such as Lufthansa Technik, DaimlerChrysler, Henkel, Siemens, Schenker and Continental Temic,” she said.

Ambassador Domingo-Albert noted that the strong presence of German companies in the country indicates “continued confidence in the Philippine economy.”

In the message of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo read by Secretary Lotilla, she stated that the plant is “one of the crucial means of addressing the challenge of attaining stability in the supply of electricity in Mindanao.” The President also urged STEAG to “consider expanding the capacity of the plant to meet future power demands in Mindanao or to build an entirely new capacity in Southern Mindanao.”

President Arroyo later attended a STEAG function celebrating the event at the Peninsula Hotel in Makati City.

The German investment is the third STEAG power plant built abroad, after Turkey and Colombia.  END

/epa

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