Power plant opposition misses the larger picture
ADECISION by the Department of Energy (DoE) on January 31 to allow the expansion of the Aboitz Power-led Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) coal-fired power plant in Toledo, Cebu, has provoked noisy protest from would-be environmental activists, who have demanded that the decision be reversed. While environmental concerns are certainly not without some merit, the dissent against the plant expansion misses the bigger picture and is presented in such a way as to encourage the government leaders concerned and the public to dismiss it out of hand.
Since 2020, there has been a moratorium on the development of new coal plants in the Philippines, which is as it should be because coal power is not ideal for obvious reasons. Globally, power generation, mostly from coal, is the biggest contributor to climate-altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is now generally accepted that in order to make any significant progress against global warming, coal power must be phased out in favor of cleaner alternatives.
The latest coal technology, such as the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology that will be used in TVI’s planned 169-megawatt (MW) expansion, does greatly reduce GHG and harmful particulates, but it does not eliminate them entirely. Nevertheless, it is a step in the right direction, and the particular circumstances to which the TVI plant is being applied make overlooking its possibly “less than ideal” environmental characteristics not only reasonable but imperative.
In terms of energy, Cebu is, in a way, a victim of its own success. Rapid growth in Metro Cebu has spilled out into the rest of the province, and this has put pressure on energy supplies. Of the three major divisions of the country, Luzon has an adequate amount of power reserves, or nearly so, and Mindanao enjoys a substantial surplus, but the Visayas has the least, generally only about 300 MW. This presents a particularly challenging situation for Cebu because its high growth rate is combined with unfortunate geography. Cebu does not have hydroelectric or geothermal resources and has limited suitable land space for solar or wind power or even conventionally fueled generating plants. The last proposal for an all-new generating plant, a 300-MW coal-fired plant proposed by Ludo Power in 2017, would have been built in a populated area of Cebu City, which was simply not acceptable despite the increasingly critical need for more energy supply.
Looking at severe shortages
Improvements to the national grid in the form of inter-island connections that allow power to be shared from areas where there is a surplus to areas where supplies are thin do help to address the chronic shortages. The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection (MVIC) was recently activated with a great deal of fanfare, but even this is only a partial solution. There is surplus power in places like Mindanao, but not limitless power; more capacity will have to be added, and relatively soon. Even with an integrated grid, it is estimated that Cebu could experience severe electricity shortages and extended power outages in as little as three years unless more supply is built.
This is what the environmental protesters, lately led by the group the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), conveniently ignore, making largely emotional appeals against the expansion of the TVI plant. As the plan is for the expansion of an existing plant and not the construction of a new one in an area where one has not existed, if there is a serious environmental or health threat from it that would warrant its rejection, that data should be readily available, but the PMCJ presents none to back its claim that this plant specifically has “effects on air quality and health that prove it’s dirty and deadly.” By contrast, the serious and much more widespread potential negative social and economic consequences of energy shortages are well-known and, unfortunately, have readily available contemporary examples, Mindoro in 2022 and 2023, and even more recently, Panay at the beginning of last month.
To be clear, if a more “environmentally friendly” alternative to the TVI expansion that could provide the same amount of reliable energy within the same time frame were available, that would clearly be preferable. That is not the case, however, and the only alternative to the TVI expansion as things now stand is a situation that would put everyone’s well-being at much greater risk.