Expert calls for diversification of fuel options

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines should reduce its dependence on one fuel and instead tap diverse fuels in order to provide for its increasing electricity requirements.

This need for a strong program on diversification for the energy sector was raised by Energy Policy and Planning Bureau Director Jesus Tamang in his talk about the Philippine Energy Plan at the 3rd Philippine Nuclear Congress organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and its attached agency, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI).

Held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila from Dec. 7 to 9, the 3rd Philippine Nuclear Congress discussed the status and contributions of nuclear science and technology in national development and helped establish stronger linkages between the different sectors and institutions.

According to Tamang, nuclear energy is still part of the long-term options for the Philippines. But the country should have a national policy for nuclear energy as a power generator if it will indeed be tapped, he stressed.

In the 1970s, the Philippines depended heavily on oil. This was replaced by other fuels in succeeding years. Presently however, the country is once again banking heavily on one single source of fuel – coal. 

The years 1990 to 2014 saw a tripling of electricity requirements in the country brought about by different factors namely, the residential sector, the urbanizing sector, and growing purchasing power.

However, it is the households, Tamang said, which are the leading driver of this significant increase in electricity requirements.

“Right now, we remain to be at 80 percent connection for the households. We would like to be able to replace this to 90 percent by 2017 and hopefully by 2020, we will be able to achieve 100 percent,” he revealed.  “But then we need to take note that the number of households remain a moving target.”

Aside from the households, he mentioned business outsourcing companies which are very much dependent on electricity and manufacturing firms planning to put up their plants in the country, as additional drivers of increased energy requirements. This scenario, he said, will spawn a lot of automation and connections, thus fueling the need for a more sustainable energy supply.

The prospect of industrialization for the agricultural sector is another factor. “If we move toward that objective, definitely energy is still going to be required,” Tamang explained. “Even electricity will be required in the farms, the cannery, and all these related facilities.”

To select which fuels will be part of this fuel mix policy, Tamang said that what is important is the equivalent price to the end user.

“We can check for how much is the generation cost of power from coal.  But at the moment, we’re still not able to account for the cost of externalities – how much of the emissions, of the particulates from coal is affecting us, especially the community where the power plant is, and how much of that can be added to the generation cost,” he said.        – S&T Media Service