DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental -- The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) here has called on the government to solve what it claimed to be the lack of transmission facilities to distribute generated power in Central Visayas.
Edward Du, former president of the internationally-awarded Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI) and now PCCI 7 (Central Visayas) director, said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that in Negros Oriental alone, there is an oversupply of power.
“(However,) the NGCP's (National Grid Corp. of the Philippines) grid is not ready yet to accommodate more power,” Du said. “So Negros Island, or Negros Oriental for that matter, has a transmission problem. We don’t have a generation problem.”
The NGCP, a power system operator and transmission service provider, operates, maintains and develops the state-owned power grid, an interconnected system that transmits power to consumers that include electric cooperatives.
The power sector includes generation, transmission, and distribution, Du pointed out.
“On the generation side, there is surplus, it is overflowing,” he said. “Where would you sell this?”
The province has at least 600 megawatts (MW) of mixed power, including geothermal and solar energy, Du said, adding that the business sector is generally not pushing anymore for power generation because of the power transmission problem.
“Once that is done, let’s talk about more power plants coming in,” he said. “The power generation issue is not only on a coal-plant issue, not only an environmental issue but is also a generation issue.”
Du made the statement following Governor Roel Degamo’s recent declaration of Negros Oriental as an “environment-friendly and clean energy” province.
Degamo, who signed Executive Order No. 9 last March 28, also emphasized that the provincial government would not allow the establishment of any coal-fired power plant in the province. (PNA)
