TALIBON, Bohol (PIA)—Still not content with the 27.5 megawatts direct current (MWdc) solar facility that a newly formed Dagohoy Green Energy Corporation of PetroGreen Energy Corporation (PGEC) is putting up in San Vicente Dagohoy, Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado has again asked proponents for another similar facility to be built in Ubay.
Sitting for an after activity press conference for the first installation of solar array for Dagohoy’s billion peso facility, the governor in fact officially announced that PGEC through its president and chief executive officer Francisco Delfin Jr., would be interested in yet another solar farm in Ubay.
The governor, at the side line of the milestone event for Dagohoy has initially offered to PGEC an area in Imelda Ubay, which is suitable for solar farming.
It may be recalled that, having had a very bad experience of a power blackout caused by calamitous events in the past years, Aumentado committed to finding investors who would put up clean and renewable energy in Bohol, when he assumes as governor.
Bohol then was fully dependent on the geothermal energy source in Leyte, one which is delivered to Bohol via 128 kilovolts submarine and overhead cables strung from Tongonan in Leyte over the ridges to Maasin and then through the submarine cables to President Carlos P. Garcia, and then across Basiao Channel to Ubay in Mainland Bohol.
However, when a typhoon Yolanda and Odette plus a strong earthquake hit Leyte, it disrupted the supply, line, leaving Bohol totally dark.
This prodded then Congressman and now elected governor to make sure that an island based power generator would be built, to insulate Bohol from any more of those threats.
Making this as an election promise, the governor immediately called on investors of clean power, bulk water, information communication and technologies and agro-industries to locate in Bohol, dangling investment incentives via the Bohol Investment Code.
PGEC was the first to respond with the 27MW solar farm in 2023, the first major renewable energy investment in Bohol during Aumentado’s time.
A baseload power back-up facility standby modular diesel plants of 95.5 MW was also put up in Ubay, which promises to deliver cheap power to Bohol when a similar event of getting cut-off occurs, but diesel is a fossil fuel and is thus considered dirty energy.
With Aumentado’s offer of sites suitable for solar farming in Imelda Ubay, PGEC said that could be their next move.
Should Aumentado succeed in convincing PGEC to put up shop in Imelda, it would double the energy produced in Bohol to 54 megawatts of DC power and could be enough to supply Bohol’s industry requirements when coupled with some of its island-based hydro-electric generators. (piabohol)
