Wednesday, October 5, 2011
FOR the Department of Energy (DOE), coal remains the only affordable available source of electricity in the country, for now.
Energy Secretary Rene Almendras told an energy forum in Cebu City on Tuesday that the power supply scenario in the Visayas has improved with the operation of new coal-fired power plants.
CEBU. Energy Secretary Rene Almendras explains in a forum that coal is the only affordable source of electricity for the country at the moment. (Arni Aclao)
He pointed out that there are no more brownouts in Cebu with the operation of the 200-megawatt coal-fired power of the Korea Electric Power Corp. and Salcon Power Corp (Kepco-SPC) in the City of Naga last April.
Almendras said the power supply situation in the Visayas grid -- which includes Panay and Negros -- also improved because of the new coal-fired power plants.
Aside from Kepco-SPC, the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid also gets power from the Cebu Energy Development Corp.’s three-unit 82-megawatt (total of 246 megawatts) coal-fired power plant in Toledo City.
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However, Almendras said the Visayas would need new power plants in 2015.
With demand for electricity increasing by 30 percent, he said, Cebu “will be short of power (again)” by 2015.
DOE Visayas Director Antonio Labios told Sun.Star Cebu that CEDC plans to build more power plants in Cebu.
Global Business Power Corp., a member of the consortium behind CEDC, revealed on ABS-CBN last January that it is eyeing to build two 82-megawatt power plants for Cebu.
Almendras said there are only two options for cheap sources of energy: nuclear and coal.
“Since we can’t do nuclear energy yet, we have to do coal. The only available (source) is coal,” said Almendras.
He said environmentalists who oppose the operation of coal-fired power plants due to the effects of climate change should consider this.
Environmentalists oppose the construction of coal-fired power plants, citing the environmental and health risks posed by coal ash and plant emissions. They say coal-fired power plants emit gases that contribute to global warming and climate change.
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) spokesperson Aaron Pedrosa said the stand of DOE is “disappointing”.
But Almendras said there are new technologies that mitigate the environmental impacts of coal.
He said the DOE should require proper coal ash disposal and direct power producers to secure an environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Almendras said coal mining production in the country last year reached 7,329,392 metric tons, nearly 73 percent of which was used for power generation.
He said the operation of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the Visayas also succeeded.
“Contrary to speculations, the implementation of the WESM did not cause a spike in prices in the Visayas,” he added. (BAP)
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 05, 2011.
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