CEBU, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III challenged those who continue to oppose the use of coal to generate power to choose between rotating brownouts or face the problem such as coal ash dumping whose solution can be looked into immediately.
“Ano ba ang gusto nila, magkaroon nang rotating brownouts for the next two to three years or hanapin natin nang solusyon yong mga concerns nila na madali lang naman masolusyonan niyan,” the President said in a press conference.
Aquino was here to inaugurate the two 100-megawatt plants of KEPCO-SPC Power Corporation’s Cebu Power Plant in Barangay Colon, Naga City yesterday.
Environmentalists were dismayed that the president attended the inauguration as according to them the latter does not know the scandal surrounding the said power plant.
A suit for alleged indiscriminate dumping of coal ash has been filed against KSPC and other power plants in Cebu.
“The presence of the President speaks volumes for Cebu’s growth and Cebuanos welfare,” said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in her speech.
Both the president and the governor have expressed their deep gratitude for the added power capacity at a critical time in Cebu’s journey towards progress and development.
“I commend KEPCO for taking into consideration the effects beneficial to the environment in doing their business,” the president said.
Aquino said that KSPC has long been a strong partner of the Philippine government and currently have already provided, and continue to provide around 11 percent of our country’s generation capacity.
“On behalf of the Filipino people, I extend my gratitude to KEPCO for their continued confidence in us—in our administration, and, more importantly, in the capabilities and talents of the Filipino people. This power plant we are inaugurating today will make certain that the energy needs of our citizens in this part of the country are met,” the president said.
Aquino said that in Cebu where the economy’s continued growth is so evident, the said power plant will help keep up with increasing demand.
He also noted that while KSPC does not necessarily produce renewable energy, it does comply with the Clean Air Act, very friendly to the environment, and geared towards the same direction as the National Renewable Energy Program.
The NREP was officially launched last week. It aims to increase the country’s energy production without harming our environment.
The plan is to significantly increase our renewable energy-based production and while the project may take years to materialize, the president said, NREP certainly points us in the right direction—toward a future where we can give electricity to all of our people without having to sacrifice our environment.
The construction of the power plant in Naga City began in February 2008.
The commercial operation of the first 100-MW unit started on February 28, 2011 while the second 100-MW commenced last May 31.
As a merchant plant, KSPC has already committed 92 percent of its capacity to electric customers. These are eight electric cooperatives, two distribution utilities and one aggregator, while the remaining capacity is allocated for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
KSPC President and CEO Bok-Yull Lee said that KSPC could provide Cebu and other areas in the Visayas with reliable, stable, affordable and cleaner power until the local economy is strong enough to afford renewable energy sources on a wide scale.
Lee also assured that like KEPCO’s modern facilities in Korea , the Cebu Power Plant will be operated and maintained as an environment-friendly power plant with an accompanying corporate social responsibility program that focuses on sustainable development projects for its stakeholders including the local community. — /NLQ - (THE FREEMAN)