CEBU, Philippines – While the signing of the key guidelines of the Renewable Energy bill will help the country harness indigenous energy sources to generate electricity, the industry is currently confronted with challenges that could deter its viability and sustainability.
At present, existing renewable energy power plants in the country are not dependable and cannot stand alone and considered only as supplementary to conventional energy sources, which is fossil fuel power plants.
Fossil fuel power plants burn coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity.
Renewable energy sources are deemed sustainable in the sense that they are non-depleting and more environment friendly than fossil fuels, however, though indigenous energy sources may last for a lifetime, the infrastructure for it will not last as long and may be replaced at some point.
The Cebu Energy Development Corporation recently hosted an educational tour on renewable energy sources to a group of Cebu media, which included the Pangan-an Island Solar Power Plant, the Bangui Bay Wind Farm, and the Ilocos Norte Energy Cooperative mini-hydro power plant.
CEDC is a consortium made up of Global Business Power Corp., Formosa Heavy Industries, and Abovant Holdings, a joint venture of Aboitiz Power Corporation and Vivant Corporation.
CEDC commercial officer Ed Satina said the country has the potential to harness renewable energy but it is not capable of replacing conventional energy sources at its current state.
Rene Alburo, project leader of the University of San Carlos Affiliated Renewable Energy Center (USC-AREC), said renewable energy sources is the future in power generation and if we can harness it to its full potential, it can solve most of the country’s problems.
However, the existing renewable power plants in the country are mostly generating power way below their design capabilities and are operating at a loss.
The Pangan-an Island Solar Electrification Project (PISEP), a bilateral project between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Philippines, was initially meant to demonstrate the viability and sustainability of a solar mini-grid system as alternative power source for off-grid communities. It was also aimed at fueling local development by motivating livelihood activities in the island.
Pangan-an island is an island barangay of Lapu-Lapu City located three nautical miles east of the main island of Mactan and located south of Olango island.
The project initially got positive response from the community, however, the power rates, which was originally pegged at P50 per kilowatt hour, was too high for a community whose livelihood was anchored on fishing and shell fish gathering. The rates were then lowered to P23.50 per kilowatt-hour, which was too low to sustain the facility.
Located on a 1,500 square meter area, the Pangan-an solar array and powerhouse has 18 arrays, 108 (2V,1800 Ah) batteries, two inverters, generating capability of 25 KVA generating a daily available energy of 90 Kwh. Total system cost totaled P17 million.
The project hardly made even with collection efficiency only at 64%, monthly collections only averaged P28,856.70 with monthly expenditures averaging at P16,885.61 incurring arrears of P212,928 every month which hardly recovered the P22 million project cost.
Livelihood projects have never taken off despite the availability of electric power because the power supply is not enough to support a wide usage of electricity-powered devices.
Meanwhile, spearheaded by the NorthWind Power Development Corporation, the Bangui Bay Wind Power Project is the first wind power plant in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, which was made possible through the partnership of Filipino and Danish businessmen and engineers.
The phase one of the project was realized on May 7, 2005 with all 15 wind turbines connected o the Luzon grid, delivering power via TransCo Laoag and serving the municipalities of Ilocos Norte and the City of Laoag through the Ilocos Norte Energy Cooperative.
The NorthWind wind farm was dubbed “clean and green” and the first project in the country covered with the Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) under the clean Development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol (an international anti-pollution treaty).
The wind farm is built along the nine-kilometer strip of foreshore in Bangui bay, initially leased by NPDC for 25 years from the government.
The 33 megawatts power generation plant consists of 20 units of Vestas V82 wind turbines rated at 1.65 MW each. Arranged in a single row along the shore with a distance of 326 meters apart, the wind turbines hub height is 70 meters, blade length measuring 41 meters with a rotor diameter of 82 meters and a windswept area of 5,821 square meters.
NorthWind power plant manager Segundino A. Tiatco Jr., said that for the Bangui Bay wind farm facility designed to produce 33 megawatts, it only generates an average of 3 to 4 megawatts or an average year-round generation of 10 megawatts.
Tiatco attributed the disparity mainly on the unpredictability of the wind speed in the area adding that there are certain days or months when there is no wind at all.
Wind power is one of the most environmentally friendly sources of renewable energy and has lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources. Unlike a solar power plant, a wind farm occupies less land area per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated than any other energy conversion system.
The Philippines has a total potential of about 7,400 MW covering 1,038 wind sites: Luzon (686 sites) 4,900 MW, Visayas (305 sites) 2,168 MW, and Mindanao (47 sites) 336 MW.
Moreover, the mini-hydro power plant of the Ilocos Norte Energy Cooperative, which is powered by the Mabogabog falls and Aqua Grande, was designed to generate 4.5 megawatts but has so far only produced 1.6 megawatts.
The total project cost of the Aqua Grande-Mabogabog mini-hydro project in Pancian and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte was P67.23 million. The project generates 46% of Ilocos Norte’s energy requirements but needs supplemental power from NorthWind and the dendrothermal project in Solsona to provide the province’s total power demand.
Given these, DOE secretary Angelo T. Reyes is keeping his fingers crossed that with the signing of the implementing rules and regulations for the Renewable Energy (RE) Act will accelerate the development and commercialization of renewable energy resources.
Republic Act 9513 would provide renewable energy developers additional incentives, such as priority dispatch of and preferential rates for RE resources.