Energy Columns in BusinessWorld

The Atimonan coal project, energy transition, and the ERC September 19, 2024 | 12:03 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/09/19/622417/the-atimonan-coal-project-energy-transition-and-the-erc/   One of the important recent developments in the Philippines power sector was the renewed plan by Meralco PowerGen. Corp. (MGen) to proceed with the Atimonan coal power project in Quezon province.   Here are some reports in  BusinessWorld  that show the evolution in the plans of the Atimonan project through the years: “Atimonan folk to critics of power plant project: Don’t block progress” (July 21, 2017), “Cusi defends CEPNS given to Atimonan coal power plant” (Oct. 4, 2018), “Meralco willing to undergo competitive selection process to allow Atimonan construction to start” (May 29, 2019), “Groups want MGen coal plant project’s ECC declared expired” (Oct. 19, 2020), “From coal to gas, MGen readies Atimonan plant’s conversion”...

The Meralco CSP, cheap coal, and the Amcham forum September 3, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/09/03/617538/the-meralco-csp-cheap-coal-and-the-amcham-forum/   Last week, on Aug. 27, Meralco opened the bid documents given by six bidders for its 600-MW competitive selection process (CSP) for baseload capacity. The winners were SMC’s Masinloc Power for 500 MW and Aboitiz Power’s GNPD for 100 MW with all-in rates of P5.60/kWh and P5.74/kWh, respectively. Both are coal plants, and they can again deliver cheap electricity below Meralco’s reserved price for levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) set at P7.26/kWh. The consumers win, they are protected from higher prices by other bidders.   Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco Senior Vice-President and Regulatory Management Head, said in a press statement that “The main objective of the CSP, which is to secure the least cost supply for our customers, has been achieved. We hop...

Coal, nuclear and economic growth August 22, 2024 | 12:02 am   My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/08/22/615410/coal-nuclear-and-economic-growth/   More countries have recently reported their second quarter (Q2) 2024 GDP performance. I can now update the performance for the first half (H1, Q1 and Q2) of the year and compare this with the same period over the last three years.   I found that the same trend is affirmed — Asia is experiencing medium to high growth except for Japan, while Europe is mostly slowing down, with GDP below 1% if not contracting like Austria, Germany, Ireland, Finland. In North America, Canada is following the European trend (see Table 1).   Many European countries are busy with priorities like saving the planet, saving net zero, saving Ukraine, saving illegal immigrants, saving DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). But saving their economies from slowing growth seems a low priority for them....

Energy security and Philippine business, the case for coal power expansion in Cebu August 15, 2024   My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/08/15/614000/energy-security-and-philippine-business-the-case-for-coal-power-expansion-in-cebu/   Last Tuesday, Aug. 13, nine business and professional groups issued a “Joint Statement of Support for the Department of Energy” or DoE. They applauded DoE Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla for pursuing a policy of “a balanced energy mix… balanc[ing] energy security and affordability with climate change concerns to support its economic progress…. Energy insecurity is expensive.”   The groups were the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the Makati Business Club (MBC), the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), the Blockc...

Meralco CSP is about protecting the consumers, indifferent where cheap electricity will come from August 6, 2024 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Sh https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2024/08/06/612210/meralco-csp-is-about-protecting-the-consumers-indifferent-where-cheap-electricity-will-come-from/ Last week, on July 31, a Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Taguig issued Civil Case No. 1039, “Complaint for Injunction with very urgent application for an Ex Parte 72-hour Temporary Restraining Order (TRO); 20-day TRO; and Writ of Preliminary Injunction.” The plaintiffs are Prime Energy Resources Development BV, UC38 LLC, Prime Oil and Gas, Inc., and PNOC Exploration Corp., and the defendant is the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco). The RTC called on defendant Meralco “from proceeding to select and contract out the 600-megawatt (MW) net and 400-MW net power supply agreements (PSA) under the competitive selection process (CSP) whose terms are flawed, skewed or supplier-driv...