Renewable energy sources eyed in Bantayan

Poultry farms in Bantayan, which supply eggs in Cebu and even Manila, were hit by the power shortage. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

ELECTRICITY was back on Bantayan Island yesterday, but the situation remained critical because of the lack of power reserves.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, who visited the island yesterday together with Department of Energy Visayas (DOE) director Antonio Labios, said he will form a committee that will explore renewable energy sources on the island.

The committee will be composed of the mayors of Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos as well as representatives of the local business and tourism sectors.

Aside from looking for possible renewable energy sources, the governor said the committee will also study other long-term solutions to the power shortage on the island.

Madridejos Mayor Salvador dela Fuente, for his part, asked the governor to help draw investors who will put up solar power facilities on the island.

Local and foreign stakeholders clapped at the mayor’s request during the stakeholders’ meeting at the Sta. Fe municipal hall yesterday.

David urged resort owners present during the meeting to put up solar panels in their establishments as well.

Another solution is to connect the island to the Visayas grid via submarine cables.

Director Labios of DOE suggested that the provincial government sponsor a resolution asking the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for a feasibility study on this.

For about a week since Feb. 21, the poultry farm owned by business leader Arthur Despi in Sta. Fe town on Bantayan Island had to use its own power generating set because of the unplanned outages.

This jacked up production costs as the farm spent at least  P14,000 for fuel in just one week, said records checker Bernardo Oslay.

They would have spent more had the outages, which affected at least 22,000 households on the island for about a week starting Feb. 21, extended to a month.

“We had to turn on our generator for the feed mill and water for the chickens. We used one whole drum of fuel worth P7,000 and spent another P7,000 for its replacement,” Oslay said. The farm produces 21,750 pieces of eggs daily.

Engineer Apolinar Saso, Bantayan Island Power Corp. (Bipcor) vice president, said they can still meet the island’s total demand of 4.2 megawatts with four out of five generating units running.

Bipcor has two 2.7-MW generating units, one of which is not operating, a 1.5-MW unit, and smaller units with 300- and 500-KW capacities. If one conks out, no reserve unit can replace it.

“We are not God. We cannot foresee when one of the working units will act up,” he said.

One of Bipcor’s two 2.7-megawatt units needs a new actuator, which regulates the amount of fuel. The actuator, imported from the United Kingdom, is expected to arrive this week.

Saso said the situation should stabilize when the actuator is installed next week.

Last Sunday, Bipcor was able to fix its 1.5-MW unit, giving the island power for a while after a week of intermittent outages.

However, the other 2.7-MW unit overheated due to excess use on the same day and had to be overhauled.

The island experienced another blackout around 12 midnight yesterday. The 2.7-MW unit was repaired five hours later.