Firm starting 2 ocean thermal energy projects

By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

DEEP Ocean Power Philippines Inc., the country’s first and lone company to harness ocean thermal energy, targets to generate as much as 3,600 megawatts of electricity in 36 prospective sites, according to company officials.

“The Philippines is one of the premier locations in the world for our technology due to the extreme thermal difference between the warm surface water and the deeper cold water ... and we have a deep shelf here in the Philippines,” noted Doppi vice president Derek T. Murray.

“We feel that the oceans here are the oil of the Philippines and so we hope to locate them ... to help reduce the cost of energy,” he added.

Murray said the company’s plan was to put up ocean thermal energy projects with an initial capacity of 20 MW each, and slowly ramp this up to cost-effective levels.

“As we progress here locally, we will increase in size up to 100 MW ( per site) with the next several projects. Our goal is to maximize and use all 36 [sites]. But as of today, we’re starting with the first two,” Murray added.

On Friday, Doppi was granted two renewable energy service contracts for the development of ocean energy resources in Anini-y, Antique and Sablayan, Mindoro, said Doppi chair Alberto V. David Jr.

For an initial capacity of 20 MW, investments for these two projects are seen to reach $66,000.
Murray said it would take Doppi—which has formed a joint venture with the US-based Deep Ocean Power Inc.—three years to complete the projects, with commercial operations to start by 2012.

He said the company was in the process of completing the feasibility studies for the two projects.
Investments required for ocean energy projects are comparable with or a little higher than the investments needed for wind and solar projects, which require $2.5 million to produce a megawatt of electricity.

Murray said that unlike these two renewable energy sources that may be intermittent, ocean energy could be a more stable source of electricity.

Town where San Roque Dam sits relies on solar power

Philippine Daily Inquirer

DAGUPAN CITY—The agricultural town of San Manuel which hosts San Roque Dam has turned to solar power to energize its public areas and vital installations.
“We may host the dam but we don’t get free electricity, which is very expensive,” said San Manuel Mayor Salvador Perez of the dam which generates 365 megawatts of electricity.
The dam’s operator, San Roque Power Corp., like all independent power producers (IPPs), sells power to the National Power Corp. (Napocor) which in turn sells it to electric companies or cooperatives, like the Pangasinan Electric Cooperative III which covers San Manuel in eastern Pangasinan.
Perez said he decided to try solar energy in 2006 after seeing its benefits during trips abroad. In Hawaii he saw how solar energy powered heaters in homes.
San Manuel (pop: 48,000) bought its first solar panel and battery, worth P2.4 million, in 2006. It was installed in front of the public cemetery and used to power street lights and those at the Doña Carmen Park in the town plaza.
Lower power bill
The town bought a second solar panel and battery for P7 million last year to energize the Don Laureano Perez Memorial Clinic which is managed by the local government, the police station and several street lights.
By harnessing the sun’s energy, the monthly power bill of the municipal government has gone down from an average of P140,000 to about P90,000.
“If we save P50,000 monthly, it means we save P600,000 yearly or P6 million in 10 years,” Perez said.
He said the local government was planning to buy another solar panel to power the town’s auditorium and more street lights.
The solar panels have a minimum life of 25 years while the batteries could last 10 years. The town spends less than P1,000 monthly for battery maintenance.
The San Manuel government bought the solar panels with its P22-million share of the national wealth tax paid by Napocor for hosting the dam.
The town received P14 million as its share from 2003 to 2006 and P8 million from 2007 to 2009.
Public school subsidy
From these funds, the local government has set aside a P20,000 monthly subsidy for the electric power consumption of 27 public schools in the town.
The villages that host the dam—San Vicente, Narra and San Roque—also receive their shares of the national wealth tax—P4 million for San Roque, P2.4 million for San Vicente and P2 million for Narra.
Perez said San Roque and San Vicente used their shares to buy smaller solar energy panels and batteries to power street lights.
Narra officials, on the other hand, had set aside funds to subsidize the power consumption of the village residents.
For hosting San Roque Dam beginning in 2003, San Manuel also earns money from permits and other taxes yearly, depending on the sales of the SRPC.
This year, the town collected P21 million from the dam operators as payment for its business permit.
It also collects realty taxes from Napocor amounting to P1.4 million annually.
Last year, the town collected P233,000 in realty taxes from the SRPC.
Pangasinan officials and residents earlier blamed the widespread flooding that hit 38 towns and cities in eastern and central Pangasinan from Oct. 8 to 10 on the sudden release of excess water from San Roque Dam.
Heavy rains dumped by Tropical Storm “Pepeng” at the time nearly filled the San Roque reservoir, which has a critical level of 290 meters above sea level, forcing dam officials to release water. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon