BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Western Visayas’ energy sector pushes to stabilize energy using a multifaceted approach by incorporating infrastructure upgrades, renewable energy projects, and policy support.
However, these efforts aim to ensure a reliable, sustainable, and efficient energy supply to propel economic growth and improve the quality of life for residents suffering delays.
The reasons are the lack of endorsement from local government units (LGUs) and delays in obtaining consent from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Policymakers at the Regional Development Council in Region-6 (RDC-6) expressed their concerns that delays may hinder the progress of energy projects.
“This highlights the importance of capacitating the LGUs in processing permits and licensing to expedite renewable energy developments in the region,” the council noted in its Western Visayas Regional Development Plan for 2023 – 2028.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has identified 79 renewable energy projects in Western Visayas, including solar with 28, hydro with 23, and wind with 17 projects.
However, the council said the region’s power sector continues to face delays in the review, permitting process, and approval of their contracts due to lack of LGU endorsement, land conversion as well as the process of securing certification precondition and free, and prior and informed consent from the NCIP.
Data from the Department of the Interior and Local Government in Region 6 (DILG-6) showed that of the 133 towns and cities in the region, only 34 have comprehensive development plans (CDPs) that considered local energy policies, plans, and programs covering energy safety, best practices, energy efficiency, and conservation.
Likewise, only 24 LGUs have comprehensive land use plans (CLUP) that include energy resources upstream, both conventional and renewable, identified within their area of jurisdiction. However, only five included existing upstream and downstream energy facilities with coordinates using the Philippine Reference System.
Renewable energy, low carbon emission, and energy transition concerns are not integrated into most local plans of the municipalities.
The energy sector in Western Visayas continues to face recurring concerns that hamper its goal to make energy more secure, affordable, and resilient.
Data on the state of the energy sector in the region are also not readily available as these are grouped with those of the other areas of the Visayas.
The council had passed a resolution enjoining the Department of Energy (DOE) to generate a separate annual power situation and outlook for Western Visayas considering that the provinces in the region are not contiguous and the location of Panay Island is at the end of the grid.
Nonetheless, the council stressed that timely completion and upgrading of the energy projects will require coordinated efforts across all levels of government and the active engagement of the private sector, particularly in financing the installation, operation, preservation, and resiliency of the infrastructure facilities.
For instance, the council said the region generated 3, 603-gigawatt per hour (GWh) in 2021, sourcing 69.5 percent or 2, 504.09 GWh from coal and 28.65 percent from renewable energy.
Panay Island also sources most of its power supply from Palm Concepcion Coal Power Plant (135 megawatts) in the southeastern part and Panay Energy Development Corporation (317.4MW) in the southern part.
On the other hand, the bulk of power generation in Southern Negros is mostly geothermal whereas Northern Negros generates power from solar and biomass. Negros has a solar generation capacity of 264 MW which accounts for 69.36 percent of the grid’s total solar generation capacity.
The six-year plan implementation period is crucial as the Philippines targets to have at least 35 percent renewable energy (RE) share in the power generation mix (in megawatt per hour MWh) by 2030 and greater than 50 percent renewable energy share by 2040.
The council said the government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2020 to 2030 by 75 percent of which 2.71 percent is unconditional and 72.29 percent is conditional.
With these targets, including the reduction of coal, Western Visayas faced challenges requiring energy solutions.
“The efficient transition to cleaner energy will ensure that households and firms in the region will have better access to affordable and more sustainable sources of fuel and electricity,” the council said.
Green energy will enable the region to build adaptive and resilient communities that can significantly contribute to the country and global movements towards a low-carbon future, the council added.
RDC-6 stressed that policy support and government interventions are needed to create an enabling environment for the establishment, operation, and sustainability of renewable energy projects.
Regional stakeholders will have a common vision, strategies, policies, programs, and measures in meeting the challenges of energy transition.
The DILG also vowed to enhance its oversight performance and supervision over the LGUs in passing ordinances on local energy codes and complying with the provisions such as the creation of an energy sector committee with its office and manpower.
The agency will also encourage LGUs to use the EVOSS in the processing of energy programs and projects in their locality.
The government, through its concerned agencies, will improve the absorptive capacity of the LGUs on the applicability of renewable energy technologies and solutions.
The LGUs will be encouraged to develop their social energy experts, the council said.
They will be encouraged to use their indigenous resources and know the procedures of the competitive selection process, Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), net metering, and other renewable programs.
“Concepts and measurements on low carbon, tracking greenhouse gas emissions, driving forces and incentives of low-carbon green growth, and managing the transition will be laid down,” the council noted.
Advocacies at the regional, provincial, and municipal levels will be intensified to harness the indigenous resources of the LGUs. Because of competing land uses, especially in off-grid areas, the LGUs will prioritize resource assessment, profiling/mapping, and road mapping as bases for incorporating energy transition in their comprehensive land use programs.
Likewise, the council will continue pushing for a DOE regional office to support a progressive, vibrant, business growth center outside the National Capital Region.
“It will provide impetus for the decentralization move of the government on energy projects in the locality and address critical power and energy issues in the region,” the council added./PN
