Hydropower

This might be news for some: the Philippines is well ahead of most other countries, including some of the most developed ones, in the amount of renewable energy (RE) production in its total energy mix.

RE accounted for at least 26.44% of the country’s total power production. This is drawn from hydropower, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass. We have a national plan to increase reliance on RE. That plan is encouraging more investments in RE.

Over the past few years, several laws support the growth of RE. The 2001 Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) promotes the use of local and sustainable energy sources. The 2006 Biofuels Act, despite its imperfections, promotes the use of biofuels. The 2008 Renewable Energy Act further encouraged the development of alternative energy sources. The 2009 Climate Change Act provides the legal basis for dealing with climate change through sustainable energy development.

The National Renewable Energy Plan (NREP) aims to triple our renewable energy production to 15,304 MW by 2030. We could hit that target even earlier.

A confluence of several factors help us grow our RE capacity very quickly. We have, for a long time, been the world’s second largest producer of geothermal energy. That draws from the sheer abundance of geothermal sources.

The technology for producing energy from renewable sources progressed dramatically the past few years. The cost of solar panels, for instance, has been falling quite dramatically. Wind turbines have become more efficient. The Philippines has been one of the countries that invested early in wind power.

Most dramatically, engineering advances now make mini hydropower plants viable sources of RE. That is important for an archipelagic country like ours.

Being an archipelago, we do not have large rivers that could power huge turbines such as the Three Gorges Dam built in China. That huge dam complex is capable of generating power at ridiculously low rates. However, the giant dam complex required depopulating many cities due to be submerged – a feat that only a government like China could accomplish. The environmental consequences of building such a large complex have been the subject of debate.

Instead of building a large dam complex, we could build many mini hydropower facilities whose total production could add up to a significant volume of power generated. The technology for nearly frictionless turbines makes it possible to generate power from small rivers, which is all we have.

When I served with the DBP, I took particular interest in a mini hydropower facility in the island of Bohol that the bank funded. I met with the communities to push for programs for protecting the watershed areas around the facility. I was fascinated at how so little water was required to generate electricity. That sort of mini hydropower facility could be replicated in many other small islands, a lot of them out of the main grid, to generate the electricity that will bring them to the economic mainstream.

  The prospect for building many more mini hydropower plants is now brighter with enterprises such as Pure Energy Holdings Corporation. Through its various subsidiaries, Pure Energy is looking to invest in a range of RE projects, most of which are hydroelectric facilities.

One subsidiary, Repower Energy Development Corp., now has a total capacity of 153 MW – of which about 125 MW drawn from hydropower. The company is looking to have a total capacity of 500MW in five years.

Another subsidiary, Pure Meridian Hydropower Corp., is building a mini hydropower facility on the Pulanai River in Bukidnon. A 3 MW facility will be built on the upper cascade of the Labayat River.

The cost of generating electricity using hydropower plants will be more competitive than solar or wind power. This will help us increase RE production without burdening the consumer with higher generation costs. That should be good news.

Dumping

China has an excess steel production capacity of about 300 million tons annually. This excess steel production capacity has terrified the rest of the world because of the threat of dumping steel products that will ruin the steel industry of other countries. To guard against that, North American and European countries have imposed stiff tariffs against dumped Chinese steel.

Beijing has since ordered the dismantling of her old and inefficient steel plants. That poses a new threat. Instead of dumping finished steel products, many countries (including ours) now face the threat of dumping of old steel mills.

The old mills are inefficient. They use old technologies that consume more power and pollute the communities. But they are being sold to developing countries for a song by Chinese companies ordered by their government to shut down their dirty plants.

One such obsolete mill has been relocated to Pampanga. It has caused heavy pollution to communities surrounding the plant. It should be shut down. People are getting sick around this facility.

We need government to lay down a clear policy regarding the importation of obsolete plants. There is none at the moment. The DENR seems preoccupied with closing down mines, neglecting the entry of obsolete factories that kill surrounding communities.

Our policies on product standards are clear. This is the reason the massive dumping of substandard steel products from China has more or less been held in check.

But our policies on obsolete and therefore dirty steel mills are not clear. This is the reason our doors appear to be wide open to the importation of cheap but outdated mills that will be set up in areas with dense population concentrations.

Our air will be dirtier unless clear policies on obsolete factories are put in place.