MACTAN, Cebu – Power consortium Cebu Energy Development Corp. (Cebu Energy), which is set to operate a 246-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Toledo City, Cebu, is now presently negotiating to supply the power requirement of the Mactan Export Zone (MEZ) 1.

Cebu Energy Assistant Vice President for Operations Edecio Santina said the company is currently studying the load requirement of the industrial zone.

MEZ 1, located in Lapu-lapu City, Mactan is home to semiconductor firms, electronic manufacturers and other export processing companies.

He said in an interview Friday that Cebu Energy may provide at least 35-MW of power to MEZ-1, which is expected to increase its peak demand annually.

At present, total peak demand in MEZ-1 is at 40-MW, with East Asia Utilities Corp. as its independent supplier. “Based on initial findings, demand in MEZ-1 may further increase between 44 to 50-MW by 2012,” Santina said.

Santina said MEZ-1 is among the potential buyers tapped by Cebu Energy apart from power distribution firms Visayan Electric Company (Veco), Mactan Electric Co., and the Cebu Electric Cooperative and cooperatives in Oriental Negros.

Earlier, Cebu Energy President Jesus Alcordo bared VECO has expressed intent to ink a bilateral agreement with the company, hoping to initially contract 105-megawatts (MW) of its demand from the consortium. He said it hopes to seal the agreement before yearend.

Alcordo said amid tough competition, Cebu Energy is speeding up negotiations with said buyers in the next two months, in time for the operation of the plant’s first 82-mw unit in February 2010.

“The entry of the first unit is expected to eliminate the power shortage in the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid,” said Santina.