The Department of Energy has told the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority that any delay in putting up the 600-MW coal plant inside the freeport may lead to blackouts in Luzon.
In an interview, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said he discussed the need to increase capacity in the grid with SBMA Administrator Roberto Garcia and other stakeholders.
“I met with them to explain how important it is to build another power plant,” he said. “We really cannot afford not to have a new power plant by 2015.”
Oppositors alleged that the facility would be detrimental to Subic residents and the environment.
Almendras cited the 660-megawatt Masinloc plant which had the latest technology to mitigate emissions.
“The question of whether it will be polluting or not has already been answered,” he said. “Masinloc is one of the cleanest coal plants in the world.”
Almendras told Garcia that the Aquino administration has targetted energy security within five years.
Long-time resident Roger Bound, a founding member of the Zambales Resort Owners Association and director of its life-saving program, said majority of businesses support the coal plant. source
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/June/26)
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