WWF, RISE launches Visayas Clean Power Scenario
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the University of the Philippines Electrical and Electronics Engineering Foundation, Inc. (UP-EEEFI) in coordination with the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE) will launch today the Visayas Clean Power Scenario at the Iloilo Business Hotel at the Smallville business district along Benigno Aquino Avenue, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
This will be attended by environmentalists, advocates for renewable energy, power industry players in the Visayas, representatives from the academe, civil society and government officials.
The Visayas Clean Power Scenario was commissioned by WWF in line with its Climate and Energy Programme in order "to determine the environmental and cost impacts of maximizing renewable energy resources in the Visayas Islands to meet the future requirements of the electric power grid."
According to Prof. Rowaldo R. Del Mundo, team leader of the team of experts from UP-EEEFI, "the study employed power system planning models and processes to see whether renewable energy resources present in the area could support long term growth in the Visayas."
Likewise, it was done to determine the amount of air emissions that would result from a maximized renewable energy scenario; establish the cost implications of maximizing the utilization of renewable energy resources in the Visayas Electric Power Grid; and look into the infrastructure requirements, particularly in the transmissions system, needed to support such a development.
"It was found out that it was possible to delay the construction of coal-fired power plants in the Visayas on the condition that renewable energy development will be pursued in an aggressive manner," emphasized by the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy, the lead group that opposes the entry of a 100-MW coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City.
The WWF also stressed that "geothermal, hydro, and biomass resources in the Visayas could serve as baseload plants and could displace the need for new coal-fired power plants. Wind resources could also be tapped to supply a portion of the electricity requirements of the grid."
"An aggressive approach to renewable energy development could displace coal-fired generation technologies in the Visayas and that by the year 2024, no more coal plants are needed in the Visayas Grid, said DJ Rean Tirol of WWF-Philippines' Climate and Energy Programme.
Among the topics covered in the Visayas Clean Power Scenario are Climate Change in Philippine Setting; Energy Vision and the Multi-Stakeholders Power Development Planning.