Coal plant at SRP?

[sharkey360]

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Coal plant at SRP?

IN A week marked by the return of rotational brownouts, a Cebu City congressman said investors are proposing to set up a coal-fired power plant at the South Road Properties (SRP).

Meanwhile, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country’s biggest business group, warned of more crippling power outages unless plants are upgraded and more investments in the sector are allowed to go ahead.

Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) said investors, whom he declined to identify, have proposed a plant with a minimum capacity of 50 megawatts.

“I still have to look at the proposal but we should consider that we lack power which is not good for the economy,” he said. Another thing that will be considered is the plant’s impact on the SRP’s marketability.

The congressman is set to leave for Taipei, Taiwan tomorrow to visit the prospective investor’s coal-fired power plant, which is built beside a mall and in the middle of industrial and commercial centers.

Demand

Environmentalists have been opposing the establishment of a coal-fired power plant in Cebu, saying it will further damage the environment. They proposed, instead, for the government to push for the efficient use of energy or develop renewable energy.

But the energy department admits coal will continue to be a major source of power in the country, adding that clean coal technologies will keep the environmental impact minimal.

Power supply in the Visayas fell short by 93 megawatts of the peak demand yesterday, even if most businesses were closed.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said official figures from the energy department showed that total power demand is growing by 4.9 percent annually in Luzon.

Demand in the Visayas and Mindanao is growing at 4.6 percent annually.

The country faces a “critical power shortfall of 600 mw until 2013” with no new power plants expected to go online until then, the PCCI said.

It said that in the Visayas, peak demand had reached 1,298 mw, whereas dependable capacity was only at 971 megawatts, leading to a deficit. Mindanao is in the same situation.

“There are big players willing to invest in power generation plants but they are not assured of viable buyers and decent returns,” chamber president Francis Chua said.

Review

He said government should identify alternatives and contingency measures, including a review of regulatory powers to allow more firms to come into the sector.

In Cebu, a non-government organization leader yesterday said independent power producers and power firms operating government power plants are violating energy output contracts by producing less than what the law mandates.

Vince Cinches, executive director of the Fisherfolks Development Center (Fidec), said that Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia should look into that, instead of “playing the blame game.”

Cinches filed a petition last August before the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court, asking for an ex-parte environmental protection order on operators of coal-fired power plants to stop them from transporting any coal ash outside their premises.

He was joined in that petition by Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos of the Philippine Earth
Justice Center Inc. and Estrella Catarata of the Farmers Development Center, together with lawyers Benjamin Cabrido Jr. and Dante Ramos.

“The blame game is a smokescreen for the Province, under her leadership, lacking a sustainable and comprehensive energy road map, or perhaps to make us forget Balili-gate,” Cinches said.

Embedded

Not in Cebu, said Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda on Cinches’ statement that independent power producers (IPPs) are violating energy output contracts.

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” said Sepulveda. He explained the Toledo Power Company and the Korean Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) have undergone “very stringent processes” to put up plants in Cebu.

If there were any violations, these may have been from IPPs or power firms in Luzon, he added.

If environmentalists have alternative modes of producing additional power in Cebu, the Cebu Provincial Government will not oppose that, said Sepulveda, who is a consultant on information and revenue generation.

Sepulveda said that the governor is simply selling Cebu as a viable destination for power players, who may use coal, nuclear or renewable sources, as long as these are feasible.

It is the Department of Energy that approves the applications.

The governor wants embedded power supply in the province so that it will not have to depend on power supply from outside, given the increase in power demand, he said.

Distribution

In a separate interview, Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu Province, 4th district) said he was one of those who proposed the suspension of the budget hearings because countryside electrification is not included.

“The people in the rural areas who also paid taxes to the government are paying for the electricity of those living in Metro Manila. That’s unfair to those who have no electricity connections until the present,” Salimbangon said.

The congressman, who used to manage the Cebu Electric Cooperative II, said he saw the improvement of the living conditions of families in remote areas, as soon as these were energized.

At least 111 members of Congress from the Visayas and Mindanao have agreed to push for the inclusion of P2 billion for rural electrification in the proposed 2011 national budget.

In a press conference the other day, Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas (Cebu Province, 1st district) said that of the 42,000 barangays in the country, about 12,600 have not been energized yet under the rural electrification program of the National Electrification Administration.

“There must be an equitable distribution of projects throughout the country by the present administration. For me, it is not good to focus only on Metro Manila. I do not see any justification to ignore the rural areas,” Salimbangon said.

He said he is confident rural electrification will be given a big budget for 2011, because that is the understanding and commitment of the House leadership in continuing the budget hearings.

Coal plant at SRP? | Sun.Star Network Online

[kazki]

Heck, Idc if they put up a Nuclear Power Plant... just get us some decent "continuous" supply of Power.

[Mr. BrokenHearted]

this is good news i hope madayon ni siya para wala na kaayo brownout sa cebu city

[sharkey360]

I wonder which areas near the SRP will be affected by the pollution of coal power.

[haroldking]

Good news ni for cebuanos kay right now sus grabe power shortage unya dugay na jud ni nga problema wala gihapon nasulbad! naay issues ani good and bad pero for the good of economy sa cebu well piyong nalang ko basta mabulahan ang katawhan im sure mo minus ang charge sa VECO kung naa nay competensya. Good Luck sa cebu city gov ani nga project!

[lestat1116]

bad and good news. bad pollution heavy pollution. good more power

[brandnewbien]

nuclear power plant jud ang solution

[butterfLytaiL]

ang mga solid waste asa nsad nah ibutang nya...

[JezzyCalm]

no need... conservation of energy ra ang solution aning power shortage.. looy na jud kaau ang nature!

[sharkey360]

Maybe the liar Al Gore might come to Cebu and make an issues out of coal power plants and other things that he believes are wrong.