Manila Times.net
CONAL Holdings Corp. (CHC) said putting up more renewable energy projects in Mindanao would only increase the cost of power in the region. Joseph Nocos, CHC vice president for business administration, told reporters that alternative energy sources may only raise prices by as much as P20 per kilowatt-hour for wind and P25 per kilowatt-hour for solar or about four to five times more than coal plant rates.
Mindanao already relies heavily on hydroelectric power plants for its electricity needs.
“And because wind and solar are only available 20 to 25 percent of the time, they need to be supplemented by diesel power generation, which will further drive up the cost of electricity,” Nocos said.
CHC is a joint venture between the Alcantara group and Thailand’s EGKO.
CHC earlier proposed to put up a 200-megawatt coal plant in Sarangani province for $450 million but has met with resistance from the locality and environmental groups.
Nocos said that among Mindanao’s alternative energy sources, hydro remains one of the cheapest. But even this fuel source is already limited to small and dispersed capacities.
“Besides, over reliance on this type of generation made the island extremely vulnerable to droughts as experienced in the first half of 2010 and various other times in the last two decades,” he added.
Mindanao has an installed hydro power capacity of over 900 megawatts from both the Agus River complex and the Pulangi plant.
Along with the 105-megawatt geothermal plant in Mt. Apo, these renewable energy sources make up close to 60 percent of the island’s 1,820-megawatt installed capacity.
The available capacity in the island, however, is down to 1,320 megawatts, with reserve capacity virtually non-existent.
EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO
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