Monday, September 24, 2007 Coal mines can produce 2T power megawatts: exec
UNTAPPED coal resources in the Philippines can make 1,000 to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in at least 25 years to provide cost effective alternatives to imported oil and coal.
Rufino Bomasang, Philippine energy resources veteran and vice chairman of MG Mining and Energy Corporation, explained that while local coal consists mainly of lower quality, new technology can make these coals useful for various power plants in the country.
He noted that power plants worldwide have used very low rank coals, some with much lower heating value than Philippine coals. With current fluidized bed technologies, a power plant can burn coals with a wide range of coal rank and quality.
Since the coal shortages in 2003, local coal users have successfully increased their utilization of local coal with little, or no, retrofitting in their respective plants.
At present, no existing coal mines are big enough to fuel major coal-fired power plants than Semirara Mining Corporation which produces about three million tons a year.
During the Power Trends forum, Bomasang said it is proven that coal resources can supply major power plants for at least 25 years.
These include the Isabela lignite (150 MW to 300 MW), Cagayan lignite good (100 MW, Surigao del Sur sub-bituminous coal and lignite (300 MW), South Cotabato sub-bituminous coal (300 MW to 900 MW), and (c) Zamboanga-Sibugay bituminous coal (200 MW).
“Coal-fired power plants, due to their fuel supply reliability and much lower cost, can be perfect supplements to expensive and erratic renewable energy plants through hybrid systems. Thus, coal can effectively enhance the use of renewable energy,” he noted.
Aside from the five mentioned areas several other coal deposits could also be found in Cebu, Masbate, Catanduanes, Bataan Island, Negros Occidental and
Samar.
In the Cotabato basin, the newest frontier area in coal with the potential to have coal resources as big as, or even bigger than, Semirara, on the basis of surface indications have yet to be fully explored at depth.
Sultan Energy, the largest concession holder in the area, has recently resumed drilling and is substantially expanding its exploration activities.
While coal mining, especially open pit mining, and coal combustion can potentially have very serious impacts on the environment, these concerns can be substantially minimized, if not totally eliminated, with the use of modern technology.
“I also fully share the vision of environmentalists of a world that is as carbon free as possible using primarily renewable energy sources. I am in fact an unpaid board chairman of a renewable energy non-government organization (NGO) and also of a renewable energy developer,” said Bomasang. (MSN/Sunnex)
