'Power crisis to worsen in 2011'

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The country’s power crisis will continue to worsen in 2011 as there are no new energy sources to cope with the projected increase in demand for electricity in the coming years.

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines corporate affairs head Noel Cabangon said the power situation in the country has remained unstable and that projections showed it would be bleak in 2011. 

Cabangon said Luzon will be greatly affected since most of the existing power plants on the island have reached their “wear and tear” stage, giving rise to more problems in their operations. 

Cabangon said the power supply in the Visayas will also remain to be inadequate in 2011. 

Mindanao, for its part, largely depends on hydro­electric power with 60 percent of its existing power supply generated from the Pulangi River in Bukidnon and Lake Lanao in Marawi City, Cabangon said. 

“It would take time for new investments in power to fully materialize. It would take about three to four years to build a new power plant,” he said.  

Cabangon said the use of power barges will be the only quick-fix solution to the country’s energy problem. “But power barges are too expensive,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the city council is endorsing the construction of a coal-fired power plant to address the city’s power problem. 

In his latest visit to the Aboitiz-owned Steag coal plant in Misamis Oriental, Duterte said the latest coal plants use modern technology that drastically lessens the emission of harmful gases to the environment.  

In Sarangani, another coal-fired power plant will be constructed starting next year with its completion targeted in 2013. 

Joseph Nocos, spokesman of Conal Holdings Corp. which is building the 200-megawatt power plant in Maasim town, said air quality in coal-fired power plants is better compared to that on streets, contrary to the common notion that these plants emit black smoke.

“They can only be talking about a different coal plant, not our plant. Our operation will be cleaner than the normal air quality in any part of the city. With the use of the right kind of coal and the right kind of technology, emissions would fall below the limits set for coal plants,” Nocos said.