By Alena Mae S. Flores Posted on Apr. 23, 2013 at 12:01am
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla on Monday rejected proposals to utilize solar energy to address Mindanao’s power supply crisis because it will push up electricity rates in the island.
In a statement, Petilla said congressman Teddy Casiño’s proposal “might actually be more expensive for the people in Mindanao in the long run as solar energy requires long term contracts to be viable which could take as long as 20 years.”
Mindanao suffers from 7-9 hour outages due to lack of power generation supply.
Petilla has already proposed the use of diesel-fed generating sets with the National Electrification Administration lending the funds to the electric cooperatives for the purpose.
Petilla said the department strongly encourages the use of renewable energy resources in the country.
He said Mindanao’s power generation mix is presently focused on renewable energy: 35 percent non-renewable and 65 percent renewable energy, with hydrothermal plants contributing 55 percent.
“If there is, however, any investor who can convince a cooperative or distribution utility to sign up for 20 years at prevailing solar rate of P9.70 to P12 per kilowatthour, we would be more than happy to facilitate the transaction,” he said.
Petilla said solar power plants may not be as sustainable and readily available as they have low availability factor of only 22 percent, being heavily dependent on sunlight.
He said new power plants made up of coal, geothermal, diesel, and mini hydro sources, will be come on stream in Mindanao in two years time. source
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