‘Power-shortage warning is call for more coal plants’

By Lenie Lectura - June 12, 2019

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/06/12/power-shortage-warning-is-call-for-more-coal-plants/

A coal-fired power plant in Limay, Bataan, produces much-needed electricity but contributes to air pollution as it emits black smoke from its chimney.

CONSUMER group Murang Kuryente on Tuesday said the power-shortage warning raised last week by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is its way of pushing for more coal-power plants in the country.

“SMC wants more power plants and it wants them now. Unfortunately, they’re all powered by expensive coal, so they’re resorting to frightening announcements to scare the people into submission,” Murang Kuryente Spokesman Gerry Arances said in a statement.

The power business of SMC is keen on putting up more power plants to generate 1,200 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity to help address a foreseen power shortage in the Luzon grid, SMC President Ramon Ang said.

Ang directed SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. Senior Vice President and General Manager Elenita Go to look at the possibility of constructing power-generation facilities near the 1,200-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Ilijan, Batangas.

SMC Global Power’s subsidiary South Premier Power Corp. (SPPC) is the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for the Ilijan plant.

Ang said power shortage looms from 2020 until 2022 mainly because of lack of new power supply and regulatory delays in the approval of power plant construction, among others.

Murang Kuryente deplored the use of scare tactics by SMC in its bid to push for its coal-fired power plant projects in the face of opposition from consumer and environmental groups.

Murang Kuryente, a consumer group formed to fight excessive power rates, have identified coal as the primary reason for the high prices of electricity and the unreliability of the country’s power grid in the so-called power crisis that occurred earlier this year.

“Almost all of the projects SMC has in the pipeline are fueled by coal. As much as we admired SMC’s announcement of its aim to complete 1,200 MW worth of renewable energy [RE]  plants by 2024, we were wary it could be a token plan, meant to pacify those worried about the high costs of coal. This latest pronouncement from SMC seems to prove us right,” Arances added.

The rest of the world has been moving away from coal due to its high costs, the pollution it produces, and the health and social problems that come with its use, the group noted.

“It is the broken regulatory framework of the Philippines that lets private companies dictate the price of electricity, a basic need and a right of all Filipinos. It’s hilarious to hear SMC complain about it now,” he said.

Arances said that despite Meralco and SMC publicly committing to RE, they made no moves to reduce their coal projects.

“Filipinos have a right to affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity. Coal cannot provide that, but the power sector continues to prioritize profit over service and so they insist on coal, to the detriment of consumers’ wallets and health,” Arances said.

When sought for comment, Ang said maintaining a diversified portfolio of traditional and RE sources have always been SMC Global Power’s approach to address the country’s power needs.

“To ensure that progress is sustained with the continuing economic growth and aggressive infrastructure development, we have to build new power plants. But these can’t be just any power plant. New facilities should be able to address all the critical issues—affordability, reliability and, of course, environmental concerns,” Ang said. 

“That’s why we are studying hydro, tidal and wind power technologies, and have identified certain locations for these projects. But along with these efforts, we will also continue to build new clean coal technology power plants,” Ang said. 

Ang said all new power facilities that will be built will utilize the latest, cleanest and safest coal combustion technology. These are no longer the coal plants of old that burn so much fuel and emit so much pollution.

“We have been publishing weekly emission results of our new coal-power facilities on the front pages of major national dailies, to encourage transparency and show how very low its emissions are,” he said. “We have always taken environmental issues very seriously. We do recognize this and that is why we are taking major and important steps to ramp up our RE capacity. But the reality that persists today all over the world—that coal is among the major, most reliable sources of fuel—cannot be escaped.”

“Until renewables can produce the same high level of reliable capacity that is also economically viable for ordinary consumers—coal cannot be completely eliminated. What we can work on and advocate is for more companies to put in the necessary investments to produce the cleanest, safest possible coal power as we completely transition to renewables,” Ang said.