Mindanao urgently needs Pulangi 5 hydropower plant

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TUESDAY, 26 JULY 2011 19:06 BONG D. FABE / CORRESPONDENT

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Department of Energy’s (DOE) projection of a 4.6-percent annual increase in peak power demand for Mindanao, for which an additional 2,500 megawatts (MW) are needed boosts proponents’ position that the Pulangi 5 hydropower plant project is urgently needed, by Southern Philippines.

This, plus the volatile situation in Arab countries which causes the severe fluctuations of fossil-fuel prices, particularly petroleum, demands that government help private institutions develop more renewable sources of energy for Mindanao.

“Clamors of power customers, industries and distribution utilities, private or electric cooperatives, to draw power from renewable and indigenous power supply are now more pronounced because clean hydropower is not subject to wild fluctuations, unlike imported oil and coal fossil-based energy products,” said Cerael C. Donggay, president and chief executive officer of Greenergy Development Corp., which is undertaking the ambitious $900 million (P37 billion) Pulangi 5 HP project in the southern Bukidnon province.

Donggay, former vice president of the National Power Corp. (NPC), said that once Pulangi 5 becomes a reality, it will provide 300  MW of additional capacity or an annual supply of 1,256 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to the Mindanao grid.

“The Mindanao grid is heavily dependent on hydroelectric power plants. In fact, 53 percent of the 1,682 MW total dependable capacities in 2009 is from hydro. With the coming in of the existing committed capacities and with the assumption that hydro facilities in the grid will run on its normal condition, supply requirement in Mindanao will satisfy the projected annual increase of 4.6 percent in peak demand. However, to prevent the recurrence of another round of supply deficit in Mindanao, the grid will need an additional capacity of 2,500 MW starting in 2010,” the DOE said in its Power Development Plan 2009-2030.

 According to the DOE, the Philippines needs “around 17 gigawatts of new capacities to meet the demand and reserve requirements for electrical power” for 2009-2030. “Of these, 1,338 MW will come from committed power projects…and the remaining capacity requirements are still open for private-sector participation.”

 These committed power projects include the 101 MW in Mindanao such as the 42-MW Sibulan hydropower plant, which started operation in mid-2010; the 8-MW Cabulig hydro, which is due for completion this year; and the 50-MW Mt. Apo III geothermal plant targeted for completion in 2014.

“Additional capacities are needed on top of the committed capacities to meet the increasing electricity requirement of the country broken down into the following grid requirements: 72 percent or 11,900 MW for the Luzon grid; 13 percent or 2,150 MW for the Visayas grid; and 15 percent or 2,500 MW for the Mindanao grid,” the DOE said.

In terms of energy sales, the DOE expected that by 2018, Mindanao’s annual energy sales will expand to 11,904 GWh from the 2008 level of 7,578 GWh. And by 2030, Mindanao’s energy sales are expected to hit 20,470 GWh. Translated into peak demand increases, this means that by 2018, Mindanao will have a peak demand of 2,031 MW from the 2008 level of 1,228 MW and by 2030, this will reach 3,493 MW. With this projected demand, the 101 MW committed capacities for Mindanao is not enough, which is why Greenergy is pushing the Pulangi 5 HP project to become a reality.

The Pulangi 5 HP project, which is already approved by the Regional Development Council of Northern Mindanao (RDC-10), will have three units of 100 MW each to be constructed in Southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato.