Biomass use urged to solve Mindanao power problems

Local sugar millers are urging the government to consider biomass power as an alternative baseload solution to the worsening energy crisis in Mindanao, as the island has abundant biomass energy resource that can provide 70 megawatts in additional power generation capacity.

In a statement, the Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) said most of the measures that had been put forward were short-term and costly.

The group said fossil-fuel based power plants, such as coal and diesel, had been prominently offered as the answer to the problem, notwithstanding the negative environmental and socio-economic impact of overdependence on fossil fuel.

“Energy policy makers need to realize that Mindanao, being agriculture-based, possesses an abundant biomass energy resource, which is generated as a residue from the production of various agricultural crops in the region.  Biomass from corn, coconut and sugarcane are either just left in the fields after harvest to decompose or just burned,” PSMA said.

According to the group, the sugar sector offers the best solution.

Based on a yearly sugarcane production of 5 million tons in Mindanao, about 1.5 million tons of bagasse (biomass) are generated by the mills in the region.  Currently, bagasse is only used to generate the internal power requirements of the four mills located in the region whose combined generation capacity is only about 35 megawatts, the group claimed.

“If the government will only show a strong and unwavering effort to fully implement the Renewable Energy Law, the sugar mills could be encouraged to invest on the necessary facilities which would allow them to have a surplus capacity of about 35 MW to 70 MW to augment the supply of power in Mindanao,” PSMA said.