BANTAYAN ISLAND, a tourist destination located off the northwestern side of Cebu, will now have 24-hour electricity supply with the completion of a new 23-megawatt power plant owned by Isla Norte Energy Corp. (INEC).
“These engines… will provide the power Bantayan Island needs today and the years to come,” INEC President and Chief Executive Officer Emil Andre Garcia said during Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony streamed on the Cebu provincial government’s Facebook page.
INEC, a joint venture of Vivant Energy Corp. and Gigawatt Power, Inc., will deliver the supply from the diesel-fired plant to the island’s distributor, Bantayan Electric Cooperative (BANELCO).
The 15-year Power Supply Agreement is pending approval by the Energy Regulatory Board, but INEC was granted a 90-day provisional authority to operate last month to help address the constant rotational brownouts on the island, according to the provincial government.
“I am happy because this comes right on time when we are trying to bring back a crippled economy, an economy that was devastated because of the restrictions of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019),” Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia said during the launch.
The island, with its beaches and ecotourism sites, is composed of three towns: Bantayan, Sta. Fe, and Madridejos. It has an average power demand of 8.5 megawatts.
A renovated airport with capacity for commercial flights was completed last year.
The Bantayan Airport was rehabilitated and expanded through a partnership between the Cebu provincial government and the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority.
