Mindanaotoday.com | ‘Green’ group hopes gov’t do away with fossil fuel, harness renewable energy
By: Jigger Jerusalem
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Environmental group Power of People Coalition (P4P) said Wednesday, June 29, it is hoping that with the proposed rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant complex (APHPC), the national government will eventually do away with dependence on fossil fuels and go for clean and renewable sources of energy.
The P4P said they are optimistic that the time will come that the country will no longer depend on fossil fuels and embrace a more sustainable energy.
P4P’s reaction came following a pronouncement from the Department of Finance (DOF), which is now finetuning a proposed arrangement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and National Power Corp. (NPC) on the funding rollout and implementation of the estimated P16.71 billion rehabilitation projects for the decades-old facilities in the APHPC in Mindanao.
Under the proposed memorandum of agreement (MOA), the DOF will be the main implementing agency, loan borrower and budget holder, and loan borrower for the rehabilitation projects, while the PSALM and NPC, as owner and operator, respectively, of the APHPC will both serve as the implementing units.
Despite this development, Gerry Arances, P4P convenor, said the APHPC rehabilitation should only be the first step towards adopting a more sustainable approach to the country’s energy production.
Sustainability advocates, consumers, communities, and local stakeholders in Mindanao have long been urging the government to prioritize the rehabilitation of Agus-Pulangi. After allowing installed capacity of coal in Mindanao to rise by nearly ten times in the last decade – from 232 MW to 2,089 MW – this is certainly a welcome direction, Arances said in a statement.
“We hope this is a sign that lessons were learned on how unwise it was to flood Mindanao with coal, which only burdened communities and consumers with pollution and higher electricity rates,” he said.
But, Arances said, the government must not stop at rehabilitating Agus-Pulangi – there has to be a comprehensive plan to make access to the vast potential for renewables in Mindanao within reach of every household.
This rehabilitation project, he noted, cannot be a token effort for sustainability, which it will be if plans to eventually phase out coal and to halt the planned entry of another dirty energy source – fossil gas – are nowhere in sight.
“At the same time, we are keeping an eye out lest the rehabilitation be used as a prelude to the privatization of the facilities – a matter which communities and advocates have been resisting for the longest time,” Arances said.
The P4P has also expressed concern over the decision to pursue the rehabilitation project once again through a loan, set to be managed by the DOF.
“The DOF, led by Secretary Dominguez, has been positioning itself as an authority not only in finance but also in climate engagements, and endeavors like the Agus-Pulangi facilities have great potential to become a gateway for access to climate financing for climate-vulnerable Philippines. This loan becomes a terrible precedent for how financing for an energy transition will look like in the country amid a global economic crisis and intensifying climate change,” Arances said.
It also opens concerns on impacts to the affordability of electricity from Agus-Pulangi, and who would be shouldering additional costs from borrowed funds for its rehabilitation, he added.
According to the DOF, the project is divided into two projects, the first series will involve the rehabilitation of the Agus IV, V, VI, and VII plants in the APHPC, which is expected to generate a total rated capacity of 417.1 megawatts, said NPC Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Senior Vice President Melchor Ridulme in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Ridulme said the second series will rehabilitate Agus I, II, and the Pulangi IV plants, which will generate a total rated capacity of 515 MW.
“Series of Project 1 is already pending approval by the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), and the MOA for the proposed arrangement for the loan is being reviewed by the DOF,” Ridulme said in his report during a recent DOF Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.
Out of the 1,001 MW of installed capacity of the APHC, only 600-700 MW is currently available, partly because of the limitations of its ageing equipment.
Ridulme said the Series of Project (SOP) 1 is estimated to cost P10.19 billion, while SOP 2 is about P6.52 billion, based on a study done by the World Bank (WB).
The rehabilitation of the APHC plants is among the major projects of President Duterte that will be turned over to the next administration, Ridulme said.
APHC’s rehabilitation aims not only to ensure the reliability of power supply in Mindanao but also to accelerate the country’s shift to clean energy sources.
The APHC consists of seven mostly run-of-river hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 1,001 MW.
Six of the seven hydropower plants are located along the Agus River which flows for 36.5 kilometers (km) from Lanao Lake to Iligan Bay.
The seventh hydropower plant is the Pulangi 4, located on the Pulangi River in Bukidnon.
###