Manila Standard Today
By Alena Mae S. Flores | Oct. 27, 2014 at 11:01pm
Manila Electric Co. chairman Manuel Pangilinan urged the government Monday to speed up the processing of permits required on power projects to ensure the construction of additional plants and address increasing demand.
“We just need a more expeditious process of approving those power plants and an overall policy on which new plants [to build]. Or whatever that government sees prudent for the country so that the private sector could be guided,” Pangilinan told reporters.
More than a 100 permits are needed to build a single power plant in the Philippines.
Meralco, through unit Meralco PowerGen Corp., is building its own power plants.
The proposed 600-megawatt Subic power project of Redondo Peninsula Energy, a joint venture between Meralco PowerGen, Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp., has not moved forward since 2010.
RP Energy’s coal-fired power plant in Subic was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015. But anti-coal and so-called pro-environment groups have stalled the project by filing a Writ of Kalikasan with the Supreme Court.
Pangilinan said the Philippines needed more power plants to solve its power supply problems.
“This will give us more adequate supply of power and also puts a downward pressure on pricing, similar to the law of supply and demand,” he said.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla conceded that the permit approval process must be streamlined.
“We have a law right now that any government project of national interest cannot be TROed [issued temporary restraining order] by local courts, except the Supreme Court and their permits will be fast-tracked. The problem is it we can’t invoke it for power plants because it is only for government projects,” Petilla said. source
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