Cebu needs more power plants

CEBU, Philippines — Business leaders in Cebu have expressed the need for more power plants on the island amid growing power demand and avoid "costly outages" similar to what had happened in Aklan.

According to business stakeholders, the 169-megawatt expansion of the coal-fired power plant operated by Aboitiz-led Therma Visayas Inc (TVI) in Toledo City, is a welcome development.

“More power supply is always better," said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Charles Kenneth Co, adding that Aboitiz being a responsible corporate citizen “will surely use green technology to keep the coal clean.”

Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) incoming president Mark Ynoc described power as vital element in the recovery now from the economic effects of the pandemic.

According to Ynoc, additional power plants, is needed in anticipation of the entry of more investments and increase in population growth.

“When there is a pressing need for power then we definitely need additional generation capacity and infrastructure," Ynoc added.

As of January 25, 2024 the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) noted that the Visayas grid has the thinnest power reserves as compared to Luzon and Mindanao.

Visayas has an available generating capacity of 2,454MW and a system peak demand of 2,153MW or a margin of only 239MW as power reserves.

Luzon has 3,187MW power reserves while Mindanao has 817MW.

While prospects of a new power plant are being welcomed, there is some pushback from environmental activists due to concerns on carbon emissions. However, for former MCCI President Steven Yu, pragmatism must be given greater importance here. Yu said Cebu's baseload power capacity is fast dwindling largely caused by aging plants and the new coal plant from TVI would cater to the growing power requirements in the Visayas area.

“It is public knowledge that our plants are aging, starting to frequently break down and we are lacking sufficient spare capacity to supplant it if something massive simultaneous break down happens," Yu said.

He said the economic impact on the possible power outages due to lack of electricity outweigh the environmental concerns on coal.

“This will be the last remaining non-renewable energy expansions and can be offset by carbon credits in the future," Yu explained. "While we are scaling up on our RE generation capacity, this will help stabilize our power supply vs demand and avoid costly blackouts. The negative environmental effects are being outweighed by the positive impact to the economy and other offsetting carbon reduction measures."

TVI's expansion of the coal plant in Toledo City is equipped with  "Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB)" that would lessen emission during its operations.

The Department of Energy has described coal as a sought-after energy source worldwide.

“It has the largest reserve and is often the cheapest of the (fossil) fuel options. Now that clean coal technologies are available, the demand for coal has remained steady despite the current stringent standard on environmental concerns," the DOE said on its website.