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WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2011 17:59 BONG D. FABE
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Philippine subsidiary of the Toronto-based Canadian renewable-energy company Enerasia Renewable Corp. is now on the lookout for a 20-hectare land in this city or anywhere in the Misamis Oriental province for its solar-farm project.
If plans push through, this will be the second solar farm in the city and in the entire Philippines, said Jose P. Leviste Jr., chairman of Constellation Energy Corp., during a press conference here.
The first and only solar farm in the country is the one-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant owned and operated by the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco). It was commissioned in 2004 and sits on a 2-hectare property in barangay Indahag, this city. This solar farm generates electricity without any fuel, thus sparing the environment about 24,000 tons of carbon-compound emissions a month.
Leviste, who is also chairman of Enerasia and former chairman, president and CEO of Mirant Philippines, said Constellation is “very interested in putting up a solar farm here.” He did not, however, disclose the projected cost of the plant and when it will be built. “We are looking for a 20-hectare land here in the city or in Misamis Oriental that is not used for agricultural purposes and with a maximum sloping angle of three degrees,” he told select journalists following the launching of Primavera Residences, the first environment-friendly condominium high-rise in Northern Mindanao last week. Primavera is the pet project in the city of ItalPinas, of which Leviste is also the chairman.
Leviste said the potential of solar energy in the Philippines is very good. But he lamented that so far, this renewable and very cheap source of energy largely remained untapped in the country.
“Our solar potential is very good, especially here in Northern Mindanao, which is very conducive to solar energy. We as a people are blessed because we have sunlight all year-round,” he said.
With the rising incidents of climate change-induced calamities, exacerbated by the continued and unabated use of fossil fuels like coal and oil which release greenhouse gases (GHGs), the Philippines has no other recourse but to go into renewable-energy sources, he said.
“Life has to be sustainable,” he added.
Constellation’s planned 20-hectare solar farm here or in Misamis Oriental, if realized, will generate 20 MW of electricity.
Constellation Energy Corp. is now involved in at least seven renewable-energy projects all over the Philippines. These projects include a geothermal-power project in Biliran, Leyte; a wind-power venture in Panglao, Bohol; and five hydropower projects in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Leviste also revealed that he had convinced Italian architect Romulo Nati, president and CEO of ItalPinas, a real-estate company involved in investment, development, architectural designs of eco-friendly buildings, to explore the potential of a partnership with Cepalco in harnessing the power of renewable-energy sources in its future building designs.
(Bong D. Fabe)
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