Zambales unmoved by lobby for Subic coal plant

Business Mirror
THURSDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2011 19:20 HENRY EMPEÑO / CORRESPONDENT


IBA, Zambales—Redondo Peninsula Energy, the corporate vehicle of the Meralco-led consortium proposing the construction of a coal-fired thermal power plant in the Subic Bay Freeport, has begun wooing affected communities to accept the $1.28-billion project.


However, Zambales officials remain unimpressed with the proposal and refused to budge on their stand not to support the project without assurance of plant safety, community acceptance and economic benefits for the province.


A community relations team from RP Energy discussed the merits of the proposed plant in a recent session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan here, but Gov. Jun Ebdane, Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II and members of the provincial board said the proffered assurances by project proponents should be backed by tangible measures.


“Our conditions remain the same,” Ebdane said at the sidelines of the RP Energy presentation. “First, all the safety requirements of the plant must be installed; second, the affected communities should be genuinely consulted to get their approval; and third, the province of Zambales and the affected communities should receive a package of benefits that will provide local employment, develop alternative livelihood opportunities, and promote socioeconomic development.”


Ebdane also clarified that while Zambales officials are not taking a hard-line stand on the project, the conditions they have set for the acceptance of the coal plant are “not negotiable.”


Board member Willy Pangan said that RP Energy should ensure that the project results in lower electricity rates in the locality so that they can convince residents to approve the project.


“If you can guarantee this, I myself would be willing to join your side,” Pangan told RP Energy officials.


In their presentation, the RP Energy team said the project is important because peak demand now grows annually at 4.56 percent.


The critical period, they added, would be from 2012 to 2015, when there will be a 1,200-megawatt requirement for the Luzon Grid.


Unless a 1,200-MW capacity, in addition to plant in construction, is built between 2012 and 2015, the result would be high power rates, uncompetitive business infrastructure, and widespread brownouts, they also warned.


The coal plant proponents also said that while wind is the most proven renewable technology other than hydro and geothermal, it would take a 42,960-hectare wind farm to generate as much amount of power as RP Energy could create from the Subic coal plant.


They said that coal is a better option because it is readily available both domestically and internationally; that it is the cheapest reliable fuel available; and environment-friendly technologies now exist for combusting coal in power plants.


As for safety and environmental concerns on the coal technology, RP Energy said that its Subic plant would make use of the circulating fluidized bed combustion system, reputedly the “best available, environmentally sound and flexible coal-fired power plant technology.”


With this, the proposed power plant will have “substantially less emissions than accepted environmental standards,” they added.


RP Energy officials also said the firm “will install the cleanest combustion technology compared to existing coal-fired power plants in Luzon” and employ a continuous emissions monitoring systems to ensure that emissions will remain within the environmental standard.


Meanwhile, RP Energy said the project would create approximately 1,240 direct jobs during the three-year construction period, and approximately 180 jobs during the 25-year operation phase.


The project will also generate indirect employment in the community, investment and development stimulus in the area, and transfer of technology and livelihood trainings, the company’s community relations team said.


Still, Ebdane and other Zambales provincial officials said they would study the proposal further in order to ascertain provisions on safety, social acceptance and benefits.


The proposed Subic coal-fired power plant project has a total budget of $1.28 billion and consists of two 300-MW units that will be constructed in two phases at Subic’s Redondo Peninsula.


RP Energy, which has the development rights and assets to develop the project, was initially formed by Aboitiz Power and Taiwan Cogeneration Corp. (TCC). In July, however, the Manila Electric Co. signed a shareholders’ agreement with Aboitiz Power and TCC, allowing Meralco’s subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corp. to become the controlling shareholder with 52 percent of the total shares.