FEATURE - Philippines turns to sun, waves and wind for power
Date: 21-Aug-01
Country: SINGAPORE
Author: Cameron Dueck
Rising oil prices and the risks of relying on imported fuel have prompted the Philippines to explore solar, wind and tidal currents as well as natural gas for power generation.
The government has set a tentative target of producing about 520 megawatts of electricity from indigenous energy sources by 2011, which would account for about four percent of current installed capacity.
One MW can power up to 1,000 modern homes.
"Self-reliance would be the first reason, with the savings on the import of crude and contribution to the balance of payment picture," said the chief of the non-conventional energy division at the Philippines Department of Energy (DOE), Reuben Quejas.
"Of course in the longer term there are environmental considerations as well."
The Philippines imported 139.7 million barrels of crude and petroleum products in 2000, accounting for 46 percent of the country's energy needs, according to DOE statistics.
But sky-high crude prices last year pushed the oil import bill up to $3.7 billion, a jump of more than 60 percent on the $2.3 billion spent in 1999.
COUNTRY'S FIRST NATURAL GAS
Natural gas is leading the push for energy alternatives.
The Philippines' first commercial natural gas project, southwest of the main island of Luzon, will fuel three combined-cycle power plants with a total capacity of 2,700 MW.
The Malampaya gas field, developed by Shell Philippines Exploration, is expected to fuel 24 percent of the country's power needs by next year.
In 2000, oil accounted for 21 percent of power generation - down from 28.5 percent in 1999, coal 38 percent, geothermal 25 percent and hydroelectricity 16 percent, according to the DOE.
Now the search is on for home-grown energy alternatives.
Asia Power International, a private Manila-based company, is working with the DOE to build a 30 to 50 MW prototype power plant using tidal currents off the southern island of Mindanao.
Developers are trying to raise about $5 million to fund the project, which they hope to complete in three to four years.
The DOE is also exploring ocean-wave power and how to utilise differences in ocean temperatures for power generation.
Using more tried and tested technology, PNOC-Energy Development Corp (PNOC-EDC), the alternative energy arm of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co, is developing a 40 MW wind farm on the northwestern tip of Luzon.
The first of three phases of the wind farm is slated for completion in 2004 with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation financing the initial $54 million stage of the project.
"The advantage of harnessing wind for energy is that we're not importing that fuel any more, it is coming directly from a local source. This should help stabilise domestic (power) prices," said the head of special projects at PNOC-EDC, Alfredo Troncales.
The DOE has a tentative target of 400 MW of wind-generated power by 2011.
SOLAR POWER
Solar power has played a key role in the Philippines' rural electrification programme. Almost 20 percent of 41,995 "barangays" or villages were without electricity at the end of 2000. The government wants all villages to have power by 2004.
Many of these communities are too remote to be connected to the national grid, making small solar generators an ideal solution, Quejas said.
"The Philippines has plenty of sunshine. For electrification of the small villages (outside the grid), 80 to 90 percent of them are energised by solar," he told Reuters.
The Philippines' Department of Agrarian Reform and the Spanish government along with oil giant BP signed in March a $48 million solar project deal to bring power to 150 villages.
Biomass, or plant materials and animal waste, is another alternative fuel. Waste from coconut, sugar cane and rice processing are all under consideration with a tentative goal of generating 90 MW of power from biomass fuel by 2011.
Aside from strategic arguments, alternative fuels may also lower Philippi