The Negros Island Region (NIR) bids fair to become an entirely renewable energy region.
At the forum on Negros Clean Energy at the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall in Bacolod City Thursday, Reuben Muni, climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace, said the NIR still has many opportunities to maximize the use of solar rooftops.
A present, five companies operating seven plants in Negros Occidental have a solar generation capacity of 341.5 megawatts (MW), the highest in the Philippines.
San Carlos Sun Power Inc. has a 59-MW solar facility in San Carlos City; Helios Solar Energy, a 132.5-MW farm in Cadiz City, the largest in Southeast Asia; Citicor Power, a 25-MW project in Silay City; Negros Island Solar Power, 48-MW and 32-MW farms in Manapla and La Carlota, respectively; and San Carlos Solar Energy, a 45-MW facility also in San Carlos City.
“We believe that Negros can eventually become an entirely renewable region. If not totally solar, at least a combination of various green energy sources like wind and hydro,” Muni said.
The Department of Energy said the influx of solar power farms in Negros has caused line congestion contributory to frequent interruptions.
“We have to understand that the problem with brownouts in the province is not an issue of generation, but rather an issue of transmission because according to solar experts we lag behind in transmission rehabilitation,” Muni added.
The Negros Clean Energy forum was attended by various sectoral representatives and renewable energy groups in the country.
It was initiated by Greenpeace, the Climate Reality Project Philippines and the City of Bacolod in collaboration with various groups.
Themed “Maximizing Solar Energy Potential of the Island,” the activity was part of promoting the Solar Rooftop Challenge campaign.