CEBU CITY – Two power plants to be built in Cebu will give the province an additional 436 megawatts in the next two years to avert a feared power shortage in the region, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said.

During a press conference in Antique recently, Garcia said Kepco and Global Formosa Power Holdings Inc. will build power the plants with the output be distributed to other provinces in the Visayas, Garcia said a day after a power blackout hit the entire Visayas.

Garcia said brownouts could be prevented with a stable power supply in the island, something that could be achieved in two years. For now, Garcia said Cebuanos should not “overreact.”

“The province is still fortunate because it will receive 446 megawatts of power in the next two years,” she said.

Cebu Energy Development Corp., whose consortium partners are Global Formosa Power Holdings Inc. and Abovant Holding Inc., is building a 246-megawatt circulating fluidized bed clean coal-fired power plant with three 82-MW units worth P22 billion in Sangi village in Toledo City.

Kepco is expected to produce 200 megawatt of power in the next two years.

The massive blackout that hit the Visayas last week prompted governors of the different provinces to fast-track the construction and development of alternative sources of energy.

Antique Governor Sally Perez said she has already talked to the other governors and they have all agreed to fast track the development of coal-fired power plants, hydropower plants, and bio mass, among others.