Monday, March 17, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
Freeport zone requests extra power supply
STATE-RUN Clark Development Corp. (CDC) wants additional power capacity at the Clark Freeport Zone by November this year to supply the requirements of Samsung Electronics, which is slated to invest billions of dollars in the Philippines.
In a letter dated March 7, Liberato P. Laus, CDC president told Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos that the additional capacity is needed in view of the expansion of existing locators in Clark and the entry of new investors, including the Korean electronics giant.
”Said company would make an initial investment of $1.5 billion to $2 billion and would require an initial power supply of 36 [megawatts] by November 2008,” Laus said.
Given this, the CDC asked the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to schedule the third phase of the 230 kilovolts Clark Transmission Project for deliberations at the NEDA-Investment Coordinating Committee (NEDA-ICC) meeting later this month.
Samsung engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of electronics and semiconductors including optical disk drives, their components and parts. It is also the world’s second-largest producer of cellular phones.
The CDC chief said the Department of Budget and Management has committed to issue the Special Allocation Release Order for the transmission project, but would release funds only upon approval by NEDA-ICC.
”As earlier communicated in our series of government meetings to immediately address power requirements of Clark, we are soliciting immediate release of the funds since we are now finalizing with TransCo the bidding documents for the project,” Laus said.
The NEDA-ICC earlier approved Phase 1 and 2 of the project, and allocated P3 billion to immediately implement it.
Laus said the third phase is included in Executive Order No. 666, signed by President Gloria Arroyo on September 27, 2007.
The Palace directive was issued to address the projected power requirements of Texas Instruments for a redundant high voltage transmission system. The US-based electronics firm had committed to invest $1 billion in the Philippines.
The National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) and CDC agreed to build a more reliable system, called the Concepcion-Clark Power Transmission Project, to meet the power demand of existing and future locators at the Freeport.
The project would cost up to P5.68 billion to be funded by official development assistance and TransCo.
TransCo intends to complete the first stage of the project by next month and the second stage by May next year. The project is expected to have an economic life of 30 years.
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