Business group cites urgency of building more power plants

THE COUNTRY’S biggest business group yesterday warned that power supply will have to be increased if the economy is to sustain growth.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), in a statement, urged the government to lure in more investors while also calling owners of privatized plants to upgrade the capacity of their facilities.

The call was made after the group met with energy industry players recently, it said, without elaborating.

“A percentage of gross domestic product growth (GDP) is accompanied by a 0.68% rise in power consumption,” PCCI claimed.

“To meet projections of GDP growth, investments in power generation must be in lock-step with priorities to grow the economy and attract investments,” the group said.

Official GDP growth targets have been pegged at 5%-6% for 2010 and 7%-8% for 2011.

While the business group noted the Energy department’s announcement that investors have committed 2,000 megawatts in additional capacity by 2013, it went on to urge power plant owners to upgrade their facilities too.

“PCCI is urgently advocating to the new owners of generation plants in Luzon, whose capacities now stand at an aggregate of 13,319 megawatts (MW), to devote special and aggressive focus on the rehabilitation, maintenance and upgrading of their power plants,” the group added.

Both the Visayas and Mindanao had borne the brunt of hours-long daily power outages at the height of the prolonged dry spell that struck in the first half. Power deficiency had hit as much as 400 MW. And while the rainy season has replenished water in long-dried-up dams that run hydroelectric plants, both island groups face the specter of an imminent repeat of the crippling power shortage unless more plants are built.

The Web site of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) showed yesterday that, while Luzon had an 843-MW reserve, the Visayas and Mindanao were short by 182 MW and 12 MW, respectively.

In Eastern Visayas, for instance, businessmen have continued to grapple with uncertain power supply.

“This is a very big problem. We are producing electricity but it is expensive. And we are experiencing brownouts,” Go Tic Ching, president of the Tacloban Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., said in a recent phone interview following a series of power interruptions experienced last week in Tacloban City and the rest of Eastern Visayas.

“We should be given priority before the power generated here is exported to other areas,” Mr. Ching said.

Leyte geothermal plants, which have a capacity of around 700 MW, send at least 200 MW to the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid and another 200 MW to the Luzon grid.

“We have aired this concern to various agencies in the province and in the region. We were just referred to the national government agencies concerned and, up to now, we are still waiting for favorable action regarding our demand,” Mr. Ching said.

Mr. Ching also lamented that power companies, including electric cooperatives, have not been able to provide an updated picture of the electricity demand-supply situation. “We constantly hear announcements on rotating outages but we need clear information particularly its cause,” he said.

NGCP Information Officer Edna P. Legaspina said only that the outages were caused by scheduled maintenance work, but did not elaborate.

“How could our local economy improve if we do not have enough power supply? Businessmen from other areas would be discouraged from putting up their business in our place because they do not want additional investment such as buying power generators,” Mr. Ching said.

The Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (LCCI) expressed the same concern.

Joel M. Caminade, LCCI information officer, said it was ironic that Leyte hosts the biggest geothermal field in the country and, yet, is short of power supply. — with Reyan L. Arinto in Tacloban City, Businessworld