P-Noy says balance needed to solve lack of power supply
By Fayette C. Riñen
‘as envt’l groups protest operations of coal-fired power plant’
CEBU CITY, June 28 (PIA) – President Bengino S. Aquino III told Cebu reporters this morning during an informal press conference at the KEPCO SPC power plant site that though his administration is pushing for renewable sources of energy, this is not possible in the immediate future and that balance is essential is solving the problem of power shortage.
The President made the statement when asked if he was aware of the “scandal” created by the coal-fired power plant the President just inaugurated in the City of Naga, Cebu of which environmental groups are calling for a stop to its operations.
Aquino who was here this morning for the ceremonial switch-on of the second 200-megawatt power plant of KEPCO SPC in Barangay Colon, Naga said balance is required to address the increasing demand for electricity especially for a growing economy like Cebu and that in the simplest term, what do we really need --- electricity or no electricity to solve the environmental issue of the coal ash.
Environmental group Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) is filing a case in court against KEPCO SPC (Korean Electric Power Corp. Salcon PowerCorporation) and the Province of Cebu for the continuing operations of the 1st200-megawatt-coal-fired power plant, which they alleged has caused respiratory diseases to develop in nearby residents in the area. The main contention of the environmentalists however, is that coal is the dirtiest sources of greenhouse gas responsible for climate change, this is reported.
Aquino said the problem of coal ash can be addressed by implementing measures to mitigate its effects but discontinuing the operations of coal-fired power plants will not address the problem of power shortage and in fact, the additional power capacity can bring down the cost of power generating charge.
During his speech earlier during the inaugural ceremony, the President lauded the establishment of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in theVisayas that started in December last year and “paved the way for the timely commissioning of new power plants as investors are now provided with opportunities to sell power at reasonable profits. More importantly, it has played a significant role in stabilizing electricity supply and has eliminated the manual load dropping of customers.”
“We now have 180 market players in the integrated Luzon and Visayas market, and the selling price in the WESM for both Luzon and Visayas reached a low 3.8 pesos per kilowatt hour in April of this year as opposed to the National Power Corporation regulated price of 4.67 pesos perkilowatt hour. This measure has likewise increased investor interest in the region, and perhaps this is proven even further by today’s inauguration,” the President further said in his speech.
Cebu stands to benefit from lower costs of electricity especially with the many number of exporters here particularly the semi-conductors, which can tremendously cut costs in manufacturing, according to the President adding that if the cost of electricity is high, then no investors would want to come in.
The President said that he believes the KEPCO case underwent the proper process with theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and even in the court as the latter lifted their injunction order.
Aquino said the issue is solvable but the problem of no electricity that redounds to no available jobs for the Cebuanos and making them suffer is a bigger issue with no immediate remedy.
Construction of the coal-fired power plant of such size takes two to three years to be set up as Aquino posed the question “Would you rather have two to three years more of rotating brownouts especially during the summer months?”
The recently-inaugurated plant meanwhile is expected to boost more than 50 percent of Cebu’s power needs, according to KEPCO Philippines President Bok-Yull Lee. (PIA 7-Cebu)
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| P-Noy inaugurates power plant in Naga, Cebu By Fayette C. Riñen ‘power plant aims to boost the growing power needs of Cebu’ CEBU CITY, June 28 (PIA) – President Benigno S. Aquino III this morning inaugurated the 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant of the KEPCO SPC Power Corporation in the City of Naga, Cebu intended to boost the growing demand for power supply here. Aquino, in his message, said the additional power capacity of the newly-inaugurated plant will keep up with the growing demand of Cebu’s energy needs “where the economy’s continued growth is so evident.” “As more people around the world buy Cebu made furniture, and as more and more of them come to join the Sinulog festivities or to eat the unparalleled Cebu lechon, production capacities for your businesses will have to increase, and the available accommodations for visitors will have to increase as well; and none of this is possible if you do not have enough electricity,” Aquino stressed. The shortage of power supply in Cebu which resulted to rotating brownouts and the Visayas as well crippling business operations is over which the President largely credited the establishment of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the Visayas. WESM-Visayas started its operations in December last year, and “paved the way for the timely commissioning of new power plants as investors are now provided with opportunities to sell power at reasonable profits. More importantly, it has played a significant role in stabilizing electricity supply and has eliminated the manual load dropping of customers,” Pres. Aquino said. “We now have 180 market players in the integrated Luzon and Visayas market, and the selling price in the WESM for both Luzon and Visayas reached a low 3.8 pesos per kilowatt hour in April of this year as opposed to the National Power Corporation regulated price of 4.67 pesos per kilowatt hour,” the President quoted. Aquino said this measure has likewise increased investor interest in the region. With the additional power capacity of KEPCO’s newly-inaugurated power plant, the full operation of power plants in the Visayas is more than sufficient to meet the peak demand of the region for this year at the same time meeting the required reserve margin, according to Aquino. “Now, Visayas can even afford to share excess power generating capacity to Luzon,” Aquino told the over 200 crowd that gathered during the inaugural ceremony. Though the President said that his administration is pushing for alternative sources of energy having launched just last week the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) to increase energy production without harming our environment, this project may take years to materialize but that the NREP is the right direction to take. “I would also like to note that while the power plant we are inaugurating today does not necessarily produce renewable energy, it does comply with the Clean Air Act and is very friendly to the environment, and is thus looking toward the same direction as we are with the NREP,” The President commended KEPCO for taking into consideration the effects beneficial to the environment as he earlier expressed his gratitude to the company for providing 11 percent of the country’s generation capacity. (PIA 7-Cebu) |
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CTU inks agreement with SRP-affected families for alternative livelihood
By: Maryknoll B. Lague
CEBU CITY, June 27 (PIA) --- Cebu Technological University (CTU), recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Cebu City South Reclamation Project Coastal Areas Affected Families(SRP PAF), Inc. as part of its efforts to expand and strengthen its linkages with the community through extention programs, particularly on the area of skills training.
CTU President Bonifacio S. Villanueva and Cebu City SRP-PAF Inc., Coordinator Alma R. Rusiana signed the MOA that stipulated that CTU should provide technical assistance and conduct a one-month Alternative Livelihood Training to the displaced families of Cebu City.
In exchange of the trainings, the SRP-affected families agreed to attend series of orientations and briefings that the CTU team will initiate and facilitate.
They will also recruit a maximum of 15 trainees per batch for the training program, and to pay a Commitment Fee of Php 300.00 per trainee which shall be allocated for incidental and other necessary expenses in the course of the program.
The series of skills training will cover the aspects of air conditioning, refrigeration, cosmetology, garments, sewing, carpentry, welding, bartending, automotive, electronics, housekeeping, computer literacy and culinary arts.
At the end of the course, CTU will award Certificates of Training to the trainees who successfully completed the requirements and a Certificate of Attendance only to participants who fell short of the requirements of the training.
In addition, a Certificate of Recognition will be given to participants who imparted significant contributions to the program.
During the MOA signing, Coordinator Rusiana in behalf of all the members of SRP PAF expressed her thanks to CTU for offering and extending such training opportunities to the association members.