We still need more power plants in Cebu. When fully operational, this year and next year, the Cebu Enegry Development Corp. (CEDC) and Kepco-Salcon’s new power projects will bring in more than 400 MW of additional generating capacity to the Visayas Grid of which Cebu is part. But unless new projects are started soon it will not be long that the Visayas’ and Cebu’s power supply situation will again be critical for lack of reserves. Consider that planning for a new power project, including the long process of approval by the government and arrangement for funding, will already take a year or more. The actual construction of the project will require another two years or even more.
In the last meeting of the Regional Development Council’s infrastructure sub-committee on power, it was shown that without reserves, the power demand in the Visayas grid will grow from 1,386 MW this year to 1,827 MW by 2015.
With reserves, the demand is 1,711 MW this year and 2,255 MW in 2015. With the commissioning of CEDC’s new power plants, from last year’s 1,450 MW, this year’s supply capacity in the Visayas grid has increased to 1,666 MW. It will increase again next year to 1,990 MW with more power plants in operation added from Kepco-Salcon.
Up to now, however, no new project is on sight, thus, the Visayas grid’s supply capacity level will remain at 1,990 MW up to 2015. This is very much less than the grid’s 2,255 MW projected demand in the same year.
Being part of it, Cebu’s power situation mirrors that of the Visayas grid. Including reserves, Cebu’s power demand this year is estimated at 834 MW. Its dependable generating capacity is up to 741 MW only. This leaves a deficit of more than 90 MW. With more projects in operation, dependable generating capacity is expected to increase to 863 MW next year but with demand, including the reserve requirement, also rising to 866.6 MW, the deficit will still remain although much smaller this time at more than 3 MW. That is not critical anymore, unless a good number of plants will shut down at the same time like what happened last week. However, with no new projects in sight, the power deficit in Cebu will increase to 49 MW in 2012, 98 MW in 2013, 150 MW in 2014, and finally to 205 MW in 2015. To prevent the big deficit from coming in 2015, about 200 MW of new power supply has be planned immediately with actual construction to start no later two years from now. Is there one coming to the rescue of Cebu for this?
We hear from Cebu City South District Rep. Tommy Osmeña and Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama saying that in addition to a proposal to produce 20 MW of power from the landfill in Inayawan, they would also allow another proposal to put up a 50-MW coal-powered plant at the SRP. That to me is good news except that some people here in Cebu do not like it. Coal powered plants to them are unacceptable no matter what technology is used.
It is true, of course, that there is no such thing as clean coal but what alternatives does Cebu have? Power from the sun and wind is available. It is also true they are clean but what will it cost us to harness them? If they are cheap and profitable, investors would come in droves to invest in them. They are not coming so it must be very expensive indeed. Unless we are willing to pay the price, no one will invest in clean energy here from the sun and wind.
Another problem with solar and wind-driven power plants is that they can’t be relied on to give us power 24 hours a day. Thus, if we have them, we still have to maintain on standby other conventional sources of power and that would also mean more investments that we cannot afford.
I understand that Tommy Osmeña just went to Taipei to see how a coal plant operates there right at the heart of a commercial area, just beside a mall, actually. Mike says he saw that plant. I also saw that and it looks okay. Otherwise, if the Taiwanese, who are much richer than us and also very concerned with their environment, were bothered by it, they would have done away with it long ago.
The proposed plant at Inayawan will use the pile of garbage there as inputs. I also saw a similar project in Taipei that burns the city’s garbage for power generation. The plant was okay. In fact, in place right at the neck of its smokestack is a revolving restaurant where many visitors have lunch or dinner to get a good view of the city.
Perhaps, it’s true that pollution from using coal is causing damage to the environment. But coal is just one of these causes. So if we have to curtail pollution, we also have to ask which of them is really causing more damage to the environment. Which pollution when controlled will be less distorting to the economy? The answer, my friend, might be somewhere else – like the use of cars that burn oil that is also very polluting. Why don’t we start from there instead of zeroing in on coal fired plants that power our economy?
In the last meeting of the Regional Development Council’s infrastructure sub-committee on power, it was shown that without reserves, the power demand in the Visayas grid will grow from 1,386 MW this year to 1,827 MW by 2015.
With reserves, the demand is 1,711 MW this year and 2,255 MW in 2015. With the commissioning of CEDC’s new power plants, from last year’s 1,450 MW, this year’s supply capacity in the Visayas grid has increased to 1,666 MW. It will increase again next year to 1,990 MW with more power plants in operation added from Kepco-Salcon.
Up to now, however, no new project is on sight, thus, the Visayas grid’s supply capacity level will remain at 1,990 MW up to 2015. This is very much less than the grid’s 2,255 MW projected demand in the same year.
Being part of it, Cebu’s power situation mirrors that of the Visayas grid. Including reserves, Cebu’s power demand this year is estimated at 834 MW. Its dependable generating capacity is up to 741 MW only. This leaves a deficit of more than 90 MW. With more projects in operation, dependable generating capacity is expected to increase to 863 MW next year but with demand, including the reserve requirement, also rising to 866.6 MW, the deficit will still remain although much smaller this time at more than 3 MW. That is not critical anymore, unless a good number of plants will shut down at the same time like what happened last week. However, with no new projects in sight, the power deficit in Cebu will increase to 49 MW in 2012, 98 MW in 2013, 150 MW in 2014, and finally to 205 MW in 2015. To prevent the big deficit from coming in 2015, about 200 MW of new power supply has be planned immediately with actual construction to start no later two years from now. Is there one coming to the rescue of Cebu for this?
We hear from Cebu City South District Rep. Tommy Osmeña and Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama saying that in addition to a proposal to produce 20 MW of power from the landfill in Inayawan, they would also allow another proposal to put up a 50-MW coal-powered plant at the SRP. That to me is good news except that some people here in Cebu do not like it. Coal powered plants to them are unacceptable no matter what technology is used.
It is true, of course, that there is no such thing as clean coal but what alternatives does Cebu have? Power from the sun and wind is available. It is also true they are clean but what will it cost us to harness them? If they are cheap and profitable, investors would come in droves to invest in them. They are not coming so it must be very expensive indeed. Unless we are willing to pay the price, no one will invest in clean energy here from the sun and wind.
Another problem with solar and wind-driven power plants is that they can’t be relied on to give us power 24 hours a day. Thus, if we have them, we still have to maintain on standby other conventional sources of power and that would also mean more investments that we cannot afford.
I understand that Tommy Osmeña just went to Taipei to see how a coal plant operates there right at the heart of a commercial area, just beside a mall, actually. Mike says he saw that plant. I also saw that and it looks okay. Otherwise, if the Taiwanese, who are much richer than us and also very concerned with their environment, were bothered by it, they would have done away with it long ago.
The proposed plant at Inayawan will use the pile of garbage there as inputs. I also saw a similar project in Taipei that burns the city’s garbage for power generation. The plant was okay. In fact, in place right at the neck of its smokestack is a revolving restaurant where many visitors have lunch or dinner to get a good view of the city.
Perhaps, it’s true that pollution from using coal is causing damage to the environment. But coal is just one of these causes. So if we have to curtail pollution, we also have to ask which of them is really causing more damage to the environment. Which pollution when controlled will be less distorting to the economy? The answer, my friend, might be somewhere else – like the use of cars that burn oil that is also very polluting. Why don’t we start from there instead of zeroing in on coal fired plants that power our economy?
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