Aklan seen as major ‘exporter’ of renewable energy in Panay Island
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

(Akeanon) Aklan, posibling magapanguna nga source it renewable energy sa bilog nga WV / Bombo Radyo

http://www.bomboradyo.com/newsdetails1.asp?ID=126225

Akelco sub-station in Barangay andagao in the capital town of Kalibo / PHOTO BY BOY RYAN ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – Aklan could become the leading source of renewable energy in Western Visayas in the next few years.
The government has prioritized the renewable power projects in Aklan to generate clean, stable and reliable energy for remote villages and hundreds of households in Panay Island.
Asea One Power Corporation 12-megawatt biomass power plant project converting waste to energy in Banga, Aklan and the Aklan hydropower project in Libacao, Aklan with a potential capacity of 41-megawatt could lessen the country's dependence on fossil fuel and reduce the emissions of harmful carbon dioxide to the environment.
The Department of Energy (DoE) also approved the awarding of pre-development service contracts (PDSC) for wind renewable energy projects in Buruanga-Malay-Nabas.
Oriental Energy and Power Generation Corporation is interested in putting up an 18-megawatt project in Madalag, Aklan to provide indigenous source of energy and contribute to the worldwide effort to ease global warming.
Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores said the provincial government is supporting power developers in generating environment-friendly energy in an effort to curb surging demand for imported oil.
“Aklan is sufficient in renewable power generation in the next few years and its excess power supply could augment the electricity requirements in the region,” he said in his Limog sa Kongreso program.
Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) is presently supplying the electricity in the province and the northern towns of Antique, including the famous island of Boracay.

Environmental group Greenpeace said renewable sources of energy could provide as much as 57 percent of the country’s energy needs by 2030, and 70 percent by 2050, with “new” renewables, such as wind, biomass, geothermal and solar energy, contributing as much as 58 percent to the energy mix.