HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES POWER CORPORATION

(SPPC)

The Southern Philippines Power Corporation (SPPC) is a 55 MW diesel-fired power

plant located in Alabel, Sarangani Province began operating in 1998.

SPPC supplied power to the Mindanao grid under an 18-year Energy Conversion
Agreement (ECA) with the National Power Corporation (NPC). The company operates

as a subsidiary of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc.

In April of 2016, SPPC began operating as a merchant plant, directly supplying

power to Davao City and Cotabato City

to help provide a stable source of baseload power for Mindanao and ensure long-term
power security for the island.

Forging, maintaining, and enhancing mutually beneficial relationships with all of

the stakeholders
is a core requisite in every single Alsons Power project. They value the
partnerships that they have built particularly
with their neighbors in the communities that host their facilities.

Power plant owners and industry in general have vastly improved employees safety.
Numerous organizations that hand down safety requirements and
regulations have been established, creating a safer work environment. Although
power plants are much safer than they once were,
plant employees still encounter many hazards, and it is up to employers to
implement programs and policies aimed at eliminating accidents.
The Boy Scout motto be prepared certainly applies when it comes to power plant
employee safety. Comprehensive training, detailed pre-job planning,
and proper and well-maintained safety equipment are key to accident prevention,
regardless of the hazard.
Among the most common hazards to power plant workers are electrical shocks and
burns, boiler fires and explosions,
and contact with hazardous chemicals. While these are most certainly not the only
hazards encountered by power plant workers, they are definitely worth review.

Utilities and power companies can create their own safety regulations that go
beyond OSHA and NFPA requirements.
Foley believes they should do just that: and, most do, he adds. According to Foley,
the best way to prevent accidents is for
companies to conduct more frequent electrical hazard training; conduct awareness
training to make sure workers understand all the hazards,
including arc flash hazards, associated with the specific equipment; and most
importantly, include a safety review during job preplanning.

Because the regulations are somewhat general and vague, it is primarily up to the
employer to determine when and where these hazards
exist and what type of emergency equipment is needed.
It is also up to employers to train their employees on the proper use of emergency
equipment and to ensure emergency equipment is properly tested and maintained.

Protecting the Environment

Alsons Power and the entire Alcantara Group adhere to the principle of preserving
and enhancing our environment.
Most of the people who manage and operate the plants are residents of , or live
within the vicinity of the host communities.
As responsible neighbors, Alsons Power and the entire Alcantara Group take steps to
ensure that our co-residents in the community are able
to live in a clean and ecologically safe environment.

The Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) has embarked on a watershed preservation and
development project that aims to rehabilitate
degraded forest lands in the watersheds of the Siguil and Kamanga rivers the
major watersheds of the SEC plants host municipality of
Maasim, Sarangani. Around 7, 500 hectares will be planted with over 3 million
seedlings of fruit trees, agricultural crops and forest tree species.
The trees will serve the purposes of protecting the watersheds and absorbing the
carbon emissions of the SEC power plant while producing oxygen.
The project will also provide livelihood to 500 families belonging to the B'laan
and Tboli indigenous communities residing in the watershed areas.
The beneficiary families will protect and cultivate the planted seedlings and in
turn, they will be able to harvest and market the products
of the trees and agricultural crops once they bear fruit.