CEBU CITY – President Benigno Aquino III commended a Philippine-Korean joint venture for "considering the environment" in building its 200-megawatt coal-fired power plants, which he inaugurated on Monday.
A week after launching the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), the president told reporters his administration has to balance environmental protection with the need for a sustainable power supply to support economic growth.
“While the power plant we are inaugurating today does not necessarily produce renewable energy, it does comply with the Clean Air Act and is very friendly to the environment,” he said in a speech at the Naga power plant complex of the Korean Electric Power Corp. and Salcon Power Corp. (Kepco-SPC).
Coal ash disposal and other problems can be solved to minimize harm to the environment, he said, but the lack of power supply is worse because it can bring down the economy.
His statements will not sit well with environmental groups who have gone to court in Cebu to stop the allegedly indiscriminate disposal of coal ash. The Philippine Earth Justice Center’s case against Kepco-SPC remains pending.
President Aquino said it will take years for the NREP to be realized, in "a future where we can give electricity to all of our people without having to sacrifice our environment."
Coal supplied nearly 27 percent of the country’s power supply as of 2009, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) report. Water and geothermal sources each supplied less than 17 percent.
"Our power plant can provide Cebu and other areas in the Visayas with reliable, stable, affordable and cleaner power, until the local economy is strong enough to afford renewable energy sources on a wide scale," said KSPC President Bok-Yull Lee.
Kepco, he added, invested P10 billion for the two 100-megawatt coal-fired power plants that they started building in February 2008 in Barangay Colon, Naga.
The first 100-MW unit began commercial operations on Feb. 28, 2011, while the second one started last May 31.
President Aquino, in his speech, said Kepco now supplies at least 11 percent of the country's power generation capacity and will support energy needs in Cebu, "where the economy's continued growth is so evident."
"There was a time when the businesses and people in this region were not even sure whether they would have electricity the whole day. This crippled the operation of businesses, not to mention the day-to-day lives of citizens; the frequent downtime in some of the region’s major power plants became stumbling blocks that the economies in the Visayas grid had to keep hurdling,” Aquino said.
“But that time is over.”
Energy Secretary Rene Almendras told reporters that in preparing the roadmap for renewable energy development, the department saw that Cebu lacks wind for wind power, its rivers are too small for hydro-power, and it lacks bio-mass to create bio-diesel.
"What we are recommending for Cebu is the ocean power technology," he said, adding that a foreign company will come to Cebu by September this year to explore that possibility.
In his speech, President Aquino also pointed out that the growth of electricity in demand in Cebu has hit seven percent, or almost double the national average of four percent.
Because government allowed the operation of coal-fired power plants, the National Power Corp.'s regulated price of P4.67 per kilowatt hour (kph) has been reduced to P3.80 per kph.
"The full operation of power plants in Visayas is more than enough to meet the peak demand of the region in 2011, while also meeting the required reserve margin," Aquino said.
"Now, the Visayas can even afford to share excess power generating capacity to Luzon, which speaks volumes of the progress we have all made."
He said the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the Visayas, which began commercial operations last December, "paved the way for the timely commissioning of new power plants, as investors are now provided with opportunities to sell power at reasonable profits."
Also on Monday, the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) said it wanted to know more about the transmission project of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) that will convey power generated by Kepco-SPC and the Cebu Energy Development Corp.
They invited NGCP officials to appear in the next session.
In a one-page resolution, PB Member Jude Thaddeus Durano Sybico said that NGCP, formerly known as Transco, will construct a 25-kilometer 138 KV overhead transmission line to convey the power from these two sources to the sub-stations in Metro Cebu, like Banilad, Mandaue and Mactan.
He said the project will enhance the efficiency and reliability of the energy transmission system in the province and may help efforts to attract more investments, as they contribute to making the power supply more stable.(EOB/RSA/Sun.Star Cebu)
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on June 28, 2011.
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