Green energy projects seen to add 600 MW to CV supply

Industries in Central Visayas especially in Cebu are assured of ample supply of power till 2050 especially if  renewable energy projects already committed will be operational by 2015.

Projects to produce at least 600 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy have already been awarded by the government  to private developers as of September, said Engineer Rey C. Maleza, Department of Energy (DOE) supervisor of the environmental impact and monitoring division.

He  gave this assurance during an interview yesterday at the sidelights of a forum.

The Energy 101 Lecture Series on Renewable Energy and Electric Power Industry was held at the Holiday Plaza Htoel for mass communication students and information officers.

The 600 MW   includes 200 MW from hydro power plants, about 100 MW from biomass, 70 MW from geothermal and about 160 MW from wind energy resources, said Maleza.

The  Visayas grid had a surplus of 500 MW as of April this year, he said,  because the peak demand since this period was from 1,300 to 1,400 MW while the capacity was at 1,900 MW.

By 2016, the Visayas grid should have an additional capacity of 50 MW to cater to the demand which grows at an average of 4.6 percent annually.

“Thereafter every year, we should also be able to add at least 100 MW of capacity every year,” said Maleza.

Maleza said the DOE is continuously looking for more parties to invest in renewable energy sources.

As of November, the Visayas has a total of 310 MW of committed power projects from various sources and 580 MW of indicative projects that will give about 900 MW of power  by 2019, said DOE regional  chief Antonio Labios in an earlier interview.

“The goal is to reach 2000 MW of dependable and stable power supply for the Visayas grid by 2030,” said Labios.