SAN JOSE CITY—A 10-megawatt capacity power plant is now under construction in this city even without the required Environmental Compliance Certificate in violation of environmental laws.
The Sto. Niño Photovoltaic Power Generation Plant in Barangay Sto. Niño clearly violates environmental laws for operating without first securing an ECC, an official of the Environment and Management Bureau disclosed.
Local officials and businessmen led groundbreaking rites for the power plant in a 17-hectare site in Sto. Niño, some eight kilometers away from the city proper on Dec. 29.
The plant, set to operate in March, is the fourth alternative power source to rise in Nueva Ecija after rice husks-fueled biomass plants established in the town of Talavera, in the Science City of Muñoz and in this city.
Businessman Mario Salvador, chairman of V-MARS Solar Energy Corp. which owns the facility, said the plant would address the shortage of electricity in the province without environmental hazards posed by traditional fossil fuel-dependent power plants such as coal.
But Lormelyn Claudio, EMB regional director for Central Luzon, said the facility, while envisioned to be environment-friendly, does not have yet an ECC.
She said the firm applied for the issuance of the ECC only last Jan. 4. “The ECC application was filed last Monday (Jan. 4) based on our records,” Claudio said in a text message.
An ECC is required to be secured from the EMB for any project in the Philippines that poses a potential environmental risk or impact (such as mining, agriculture projects and construction).
The EMB issues the ECC after a thorough and positive review of the project’s application.