Power plants asked to have disaster plans

BAGUIO CITY—The Department of Energy  (DOE) is now requiring renewable energy plants to develop their own disaster preparedness plans in light of extreme weather and other potential hazards they may identify in their operations.

The rules were presented on Thursday at the Baguio leg of a nationwide consultation where photographs of the impact of Tropical Storm “Sendong” on a power plant in Cagayan de Oro City in December last year were prominently featured.

The draft renewable energy safety, health and environment rules and regulations combine existing occupational safety standards set by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with world safety standards that were designed for the environment, said Josefino Adajar, senior safety consultant of the DOE geothermal energy management division.

A key innovation is the mandatory creation of a disaster emergency preparedness plan and response team, which would shape how a company addresses calamities and accidents, Adajar said.

The DOE will require each company to develop the emergency action plan and designate employees to operate this plan.

The draft rules also ensure that no employee has access to any area to which it would be necessary to restrict access “on grounds of health and safety unless the employee concerned has received adequate health and safety instructions and the employee’s presence is necessary [to resolve] the imminent danger.”

Communicating the existence of potential hazards to employees is also a prerequisite for renewable energy operations, said Mario Marasigan, director of the DOE Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB).

He explained that the agency is getting data from renewable energy firms to establish work safety conditions. Data collected by the DOLE showed that operating renewable energy plants “are well beyond OK.”

The REMB has approved 200 projects, most of which are at their predevelopment stages of exploration and feasibility analysis, Marasigan said.

“We need to act on 280 additional applications [for renewable energy projects],” he said.

He said Republic Act No. 9513 (Philippine Renewable Energy Act of 2008) is a fairly new law, but the Philippines has taken credit for being the only country with a renewable energy sector that contributes 38.9 percent of electricity used by the national power grid, Marasigan said.

The law governs the use of alternative energy sources like geothermal power, hydroelectricity, wind and biofuel.

Marasigan said the draft rules also focus on the environment.

He said the DOE has formed a technical working group with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to harmonize environmental laws and regulations that impact on renewable energy facilities, focusing on contentious issues like water use and supply management. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon