Sunstar Bacolod
NEGROS Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. said there is another investor who is seriously looking for an ideal place where they would put up a coal-fired power plant.
Last weekend officials of Global Power Corporation headed by their president Art Aguilar met with the governor and discussed their plans of putting up a coal-fired power plant in the province similar to the plant they have constructed in Iloilo.
They have also discussed their plan with Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Pena who said he will endorse the project if the governor gives his go signal.
Maranon explained that electric power from coal-fired power plants is more expensive than other types of power because the companies who invest in the coal-fired plants are conscious about cleanliness and they invest a lot of money in their pollution control equipment.
In America, 60 percent of the electric power comes from coal-fired power plants, according to Pena.
Aside from Global Power, Alto Power is also interested in constructing a hydro power plant.
Alto Power is presently processing its application with the concerned government agencies to push through with their project that would tap major rivers in the province, especially the Bago River.
Maranon however said that the construction of a hydro power plant takes a very long time. The feasibility study alone takes from one to three years because the characteristic of the water in a certain river has to be studied.
Green Power Philippines, on the other hand, has also written the governor about its seriousness of pursuing their investment on a 35-megawatt multi-fuel biomass power plant in Sagay City.
The Provincial Board has already favorably endorsed the project through a resolution.
David de Montaigne, president of Green Power Negros Philippines, Inc. said that they will conduct another technical visit in the province to discuss the most appropriate project site, meet with potential biomass suppliers in Sagay City and in the province, and host a public consultation regarding their proposed project.
Montaigne also informed the governor that they have already applied for a Renewable Energy Certificate and Operating Contract with the Department of Energy.
They are also working on the Initial Environmental Examination, which is a requisite, prior to the issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (Teresa Ellera-Dulla)
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on November 10, 2010.
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