Proponents of the inland power source project should consider cost-efficient renewable energy to have a sustainable power generation system that would pave way for an investor-attractive economic atmosphere for Bohol.
Third District Rep. Arthur Yap shared this insight when sought for a comment on the Bohol Energy Development Advisory Council’s proposal for Bohol to come up with a mega-power plant eyed to be completed by 2023 that will serve as the inland source of power supply to energize the transmission lines of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) station in Corella.
For Yap, solar power is the cheapest compared to other forms of renewable energy.
He said it would be better “for Bohol to be known for innovative sustainable power sourcing”.
“If you want to position Bohol, let us position Bohol for the coming years as a renewable and innovation center for power in energy task,” Yap said.
Yap also hinted that Bohol should avoid coal power.
“Bisan pa mas mura ang coal power, there is no such thing as green coal. Bisan pa unsa pa angexplanations ang gihatag nato. It cannot be cleaner than sustainable renewable sources,” according to Yap.
He said that Bohol should consider utilizing an affordable technology for the purpose which may not be necessarily the cheapest.
“Whether it is power you’re talking right now about dams, turbines, or whether it is solar, whether it is wave power, whether it is wind power, mas maayo ta nga mangita ta ng technology that is affordable, may not be the cheapest, but affordable for Bohol,” Yap said.
He explained that an affordable technology will draw green investment in the future which will ensure sustainable development.
He said an affordable technology “will assure us of more green investment in the future”.
“When we have green investment, clean, beautiful and good infrastructure, we will invite smart and intelligent investments. Smart, intelligence investments could be services-related, tourism-related, financial-related, BPO-related,” Yap pointed out.
He elaborated that it is those services-related, tourism-related, financial-related, BPO-related that offer “high-paying jobs we want to attract to Bohol”.
“Mao nga for me, I will welcome it, if they want to talk about dams and turbines. But of course, it costs more. But it’s alright. For me, the cheapest is solar,” Yap added.
He further explained that hydro-power might be more expensive, because it would require large system of impounding dams.
“That’s why it’s more expensive tungod kay to assure sustainability, kinahanglan dakong system of impounding dam. You have to invest hundreds of millions [of pesos]. Concrete impounding. But the sun is the sun. The wave is the wave. But even with that, every Bol-anon must also focus on waste water and recycling of our garbage in our solid waste management,” according to Yap.
He also shared his observation in other parts of the country where efficient solid waste management sustained bio-diversity in the areas.
He pointed out that green investment is important for development to be sustainable and the locales’s part in the investment is the preservation of the natural resources.
“They are our investment. Kanang atong capital gikan sa Ginoo. That is the only capital we have, we have to preserve that. We are only stewards. We are only handling it for the generations to come. We are only trying to live off at this temporary time. Let us not forget that,” Yap pointed out.
Meanwhile, the mega-project on inland power generation is already up for bidding.
It will then be the source of power supply to energize the transmission lines of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) station in Corella.
By 2024, it will be the main source of all the three distribution facilities- -Bohol Light Company, Inc.; Boheco I and Boheco II- -for their service areas.
Gov. Edgar Chatto prepared this vision, expecting the spur of development of Bohol to increase the power supply demand to 115 MW by then from the current 60-78MW.
Aside from supplying for Bohol consumption, the excess electricity that will be produced by the mega-power plant will be sold to areas outside the province that will be income-generating for the province.
Interconnection schemes are included in the study for this purpose, according to Chatto.