Negros seen as Philippines’ renewable energy center

BACOLOD City, Philippines—Negros could become a major source of renewable energy in the Philippines if its sugar mills would be retrofitted to produce electricity from biomass, said Arthur Aguilar, president of Global Business Power Corp.

Aguilar, who spoke on the Visayas Electric Power Situation during the recent 20th Visayas Area Business Conference and Expo in Bacolod City, said that if the sugar mills would be tapped, Negros could export 200 megawatts of clean, renewable energy from biomass.

Negros Island could potentially produce about 310 megawatts of renewable energy using renewable biomass, mini hydro and wind power, he added.

Sugar mills have been engaged in biomass co-generation for about a hundred years now, Aguilar said.

If existing sugar mills retrofit high pressure boilers, these mills could double the amount of electricity they produce from the same volume of bagasse, he said.

“Ten years ago when I was running Victorias Milling Co., I was telling the sugar planters that in 15 years they will be growing sugarcane, not just for sugar, but for the energy it produces. It’s already 10 years and five years to go and it’s now very obvious with the high pressure boilers that the technology is there,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar admitted that the GBPC was talking about going into biomass production but there’s no definite decision yet. “I am not saying we will (go into biomass production).”

Aguilar also cited other possible sources of power for Negros Occidental such as the province’s seven major river systems.

The seven major river systems could yield between 50 megawatts and 80 megawatts using cascading run-of-the-river mini-hydro technology, he pointed out.

Assuming a feed-in-tariff of P6 to P7 per kilowatt hour, electricity from biomass and mini-hydro could compete with coal-fired power plants, Aguilar said.

He added that some areas like San Carlos City could yield at least 20 megawatts to 30 megawatts of wind energy.

On the other hand, Aguilar said the northwestern part Negros Occidental, which has a high demand for power, could not rely on coal power.

He explained that there are a few ports between Manapla and Kabankalan City that are suitable for coal.

A deep water port is needed to bring in large vessels, otherwise coal freight would be very expensive to the detriment of consumers, Aguilar said.

He warned that with a six percent to nine percent growth in power consumption in the Visayas, additional power plants would be needed from 2013 to 2015.

It is projected that by 2015, Negros will have a power deficit of 93 megawatts while Cebu and Bohol would have a power deficit of 248 megawatts and 44 megawatts, respectively.

Aguilar also said the congestion of submarine cables connecting Cebu, Negros and Panay was causing higher electricity costs to consumers.

In fact, he said, customers of Central Negros Electric Cooperative, which buys power from Leyte and Cebu, could be paying more for their power in October and September because of the additional transmission cost.