Church protests won't work vs coal
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Carla Gomez
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 22:58:00 05/09/2008
ILOILO CITY, Philippines--Energy officials and traders are sweeping aside opposition from the Catholic Church and pushing through with building a coal-fired power plant and digging for geothermal power to supply electricity to Panay and Negros islands.
The David M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) group is preparing to start the construction of a 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Concepcion, Iloilo as soon as it signs a power supply agreement with power distributors on Panay Island.
DMCI president and chief executive officer Isidro Consunji said creditor banks are ready to fund the P7.36 billion project in Barangay (village) Nipa in Concepcion, around 111 km north of here.
"We can go anytime as soon as they can sign the power supply agreement and it is approved by the (Energy Regulatory Commission)," Consunji told the Philippine Daily Inquirer at the sidelines of a briefing on the power situation in Western Visayas on Thursday.
2-year construction
Consunji said once a power supply agreement is signed with electric cooperatives, construction can start within a month and the coal plant would be completed in 24 months.
He said they might enter a deal with either the Indian company Thermax or a Chinese company to build the plant.
Coal plant projects are facing strong opposition from environmental and Church groups for their perceived threats to the environment and human health.
But the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last July granted an environment compliance certificate to the project.
Consunji said his firm was prepared to accept a "lowest viable rate of P4.27 per kwh" from electric distributors who will buy electricity from the plant.
Engineer Wilfredo Billena, head of the Panay Electric Cooperative Consortium, said the cooperative will present their terms of reference to power suppliers, including DMCI, in two weeks to ensure good rates.
The consortium includes the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) I, Ileco II, Ileco III, Capiz Electric Cooperative (Capelco), Guimaras Electric Cooperative (Guimelco), Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) and Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco).
Helpless
The coal plant project will be by the DMCI subsidiary, DMCI Power. DMCI Power has two major power generation projects: the 100-mw coal plant in Concepcion and a 15-mw coal-fired power plant in Masbate.
The coal-fired power plant is among the long-term measures being pushed by the energy industry and business groups to fill the need for more electricity in Panay Island and the rest of Western Visayas.
Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra has remained opposed to the entry of the PNOC-EDC into the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park buffer zone to tap more geothermal energy, even as he admitted that he could not do anything if government goes ahead with the project.
Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco said he expects the provincial board to decide next on whether or not to concur with PNOC-EDC's plan to enter the buffer zone.
"We will go with the sentiment of the majority," he said.
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said he met with Navarra Wednesday night to explain the need for the PNOC-EDC to enter the buffer zone to drill for more geothermal energy and meet power needs in Negros Occidental.
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