Stakeholders support RP Energy
Redondo Peninsula Energy, Inc. (RP Energy), a consortium composed of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) PowerGen Corporation, Aboitiz Power Corporation and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corporation, continues to gain support among its key national and local stakeholders.
According to RP Energy President Aaron Domingo, RP Energy’s stakeholders recognize its strict adherence to the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau’s guidelines and its commitment to complying with the law.
“All of these developments strengthen our commitment to adhere to the permitting process and onwards to ensuring that the project’s construction and eventual operation is environmentally-compliant and state-of-the-art,” Domingo said.
An amendment to the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the multi-partite monitoring team (MMT) for RP Energy’s 600-MW power project was recently approved and signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), local government units (LGU) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The MOA also covers the Environmental Monitoring Fund and Environmental Guarantee Fund.
LGU signatories included Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Subic Mayor Jefferson Khonghun and Brgy. Cawag chairman Arthur Garcia. NGOs were represented by Chairman Laureano Artagame of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) and Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce President Danny Piano. The document was also approved by Olongapo City environment officer Marife Castillo.
The DENR has already issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) allowing RP Energy to expand its environment-friendly and state-of-the-art Circulating-Fluidized-Bed coal-fired power plant at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone from 300-MW to 600-MW.
The power plant is expected to augment the much-needed base load capacity in the Luzon grid when it starts commercial operations.
MFARMC chairman Larry Artagame believes that residents of project site Barangay Cawag will benefit from the livelihood and employment opportunities not to mention benefits from ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects of RP Energy.
He adds, “While we’re grateful for the gains to be made, this also means that concerned local community groups need to strictly monitor the plant’s operations to make sure that it abides by the ECC and the MOA”.
This was seconded by Kolehiyo ng Subic administrator Juan Deveraturda who said that, “RP Energy should set the standard for future power plant projects by sticking to the highest environmental benchmarks that it already follows.”
In the end, according to Mr. Domingo, the MOA and the ECC are results and testaments to the cooperation between RP Energy and its stakeholders. “It will take no less than the same amount of cooperation to make the project successful, the environment continuously protected and its benefits far-reaching”.
Earlier, the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) reiterated the need to support power projects and secure the continuous supply of electricity to maintain the current economic momentum.
PIPPA President Ernie Pantangco urged all relevant sectors to be more circumspect and examine the impact on the economy and people if projects such as RP Energy’s 600-MW power plant are hampered and the increasing demand for power is unmet.
