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Monday, August 29, 2005
Negros Oriental boosts image as 'seat of power'
By Jimmy P. Abayon
THE province of Negros Oriental reinforced its image as the "seat of power" of Western and Central Visayas with the inauguration Wednesday by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the P1.7 billion Palinpinon 2 Nasulo expansion geothermal project in the town of Valencia.
Nasulo, a sitio of geothermal source-rich Barangay Puhagan in the inland municipality of Valencia, is 35 kilometers away from Dumaguete City.
President Arroyo in a speech during the inauguration underscored the necessity to wean the country from its dependence on fossil fuel.
"It is important to move away from oil-based fuel," Mrs. Arroyo told provincial officials led by Governor George Arnaiz, Valencia municipal officials headed by Valencia Mayor Rodolfo Gonzales, Jr., officials of the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) led by resident manager Danilo Catigtig, and local folks present at the inauguration.
The Philippines, she said, is the number one user of geothermal energy in the world.
The President stressed that Southern Negros Geothermal Production Field (SNGPF) in Palinpinon, Valencia has the highest use of geothermal power of more than 88 percent in the country.
Mrs. Arroyo lauded the National Power Corporation (NPC) and PNOC-EDC for having the most efficient generation of power.
The President invited power intensive industries in the country to invest in Valencia and Negros Oriental, assuring them of a "50 percent power subsidy".
She said investors will enjoy economic relief in the 50 percent electric bill subsidy available in the municipality as host to the geothermal steam fields of PNOC-EDC particularly in the face of an impending oil crisis.
Valencia's electric subsidy is shaved off from 80 percent of the multi-million-royalty tax from PNOC-EDC.
Since its inception, the Palinpinon production field has contributed a total of P327 million in royalties and community projects in Valencia and Negros Oriental.
The President arrived minutes after ten o'clock on board a presidential plane at the Dumaguete City airport in Sibulan and was immediately whisked to Ticala in Valencia on board a presidential chopper accompanied by another helicopter escort.
The presidential entourage was composed of Department of Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla, Finance Secretary Margarito Gary Teves, Department of Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, 3rd District Representative Herminio G. Teves, PNOC-EDC president Paul Aquino, and PNOC-EDC chairman and CEO Eduardo Mañalac.
From Ticala, Arroyo boarded a Pajero that took her and her official escorts to Puhagan for the Nasulo project inauguration.
'Seat of power'
The 20-megawatt Nasulo optimization project of Palinpinon 2 is PNOC-EDC's major and newest addition to the 'seat of power' in Western and Central Visayas under the SNGPF.
The fund for the project was sourced out from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) under a loan agreement signed on June 23, 2003.
It is envisioned to meet the projected growth in energy demand and to supply stable electricity to the Visayas grid.
The project includes the development of a 20 MW geothermal field, the commissioning of a 1 X 20 MW geothermal power plant including the drilling of one production well, the construction of the corresponding fluid collection and re-injection system, and the building of a switching station to connect NPC's 138 kilovolt transmission line to Sitio Nasuji in Puhagan.
Aside from providing power, the Nasulo project will take advantage of the incentives from the Kyoto protocol on clean air signed by 155 countries including the Philippines in 1997 and ratified by Congress in 2004.
Since the project avoids harmful gases from oil, the Dutch Government offered to buy credits equal to the project's avoided carbon dioxide gas of 40,000 tons per year at US$5.6 per ton of carbon.
The amount totals US$224,000 per year for ten years, meaning the country will earn money for running clean energy.
Unlike a similar capacity fossil fuel-fired power plant, a 20 KW geothermal project avoids or reduces greenhouse gas emission of about 108 kilotons of carbon dioxide annually.
Once commissioned Nasulo is projected to displace the use of imported fuel during its 25year operation.
The Philippine Energy Plan of 2005-2014 gives priority to the development of indigenous and clean energy resources to ensure the country's self-sufficiency and power security in the face of the increasing energy demand and the retirement of aging oil and coal-based power plants
SNGPF consists of the 112.5 MW Palinpinon 1 production field and the 80 MW Palinpinon 2 production field.
The production field was developed as an offshoot of the crippling oil crisis in the 1970s that provided the impetus to develop alternative energy sources.
The Palinpinon field has contributed US$457.8 million foreign exchange savings last year.
From January to July this year alone, the field helped save P267 million in foreign exchange for the country.
Palinpinon 1 exports power to Bacolod City, Aklan, Iloilo, Capiz, Antique while Palinpinon 2 exports power to Cebu.
(August 28, 2005 issue)
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