Energy department bats for more renewable energy

DEPARTMENT of Energy Regional Director Efren Balaoing said many companies have signified interest in developing renewable sources of energy in the region and nearby provinces.

Balaoing said the department has been promoting the use of renewable sources of energy through their National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) since the passage of the Renewable Energy law in 2008.

With the use of renewable energy sources, power costs will be cut in the long run, as it is also good for the environment.

He added more energy sources are being discovered since missionaries in Baguio City built the first hydroelecttric plant in 1913.

Now the country, with the help of the Renewable Energy Law, is able to process energy from wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal and other renewable sources, he said.

Balaoing shared in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, an 86-kilowatt wind farm is being developed to help lower electricity costs. The existing ones in the nearby town of Bangui only produce 33 megawatts of power.

This could lower energy costs eventually, but as of the moment, biodiesel and coal fired power plants still provide cheaper and regular energy sources than wind, he said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission is still studying the feed-in tariff rates for wind-sourced power, to date. (JM Agreda)

Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on June 27, 2011.