Energy consumer advocate Power for People Coalition (P4P) welcomed the decision of Redondo Peninsula Energy Corp. (RP Energy) to no longer pursue its coal power project in Subic, Zambales.
The planned 2×300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant has been strongly opposed by the green energy coalition for years. The project construction could not move forward because of geological issues, particularly stability of the site, and the delay in the approval of the PSA (Power Supply Agreement) by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Instead, RP Energy is seriously considering converting the stalled coal project into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture.
“While the cancellation of the Subic coal plant is a welcome development, we no longer find it surprising given the many triumphs that groups advocating for clean energy have won over it. With years and years of delays, we can only imagine the losses it has had to deal with. We hope the shelving of the Subic project means Meralco is finally starting to see sense and would soon have more coal cancellations to announce,” said Gerry Arances, Convenor of P4P.
RP Energy is joint venture among Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), Aboitiz Power Corp., and Taiwan Cogeneration Corp. The Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and Environment Conservation (SBFCHEC) said the cancellation of the Subic coal plant is built on the decade-long resistance of local communities.
“With this news, we are able to face the youth and future generations of Subic residents with pride knowing we won the fight. The cancellation of RP Energy’s coal plant is an encouragement for us to continue working to free Subic from the threat of dirty energy,” said SBFCHEC President Jen Velarmino Van der Heijde.
P4P said MGen should also consider doing the same with its other coal projects, particularly the 1,200MW coal plant in Quezon under Atimonan One Energy (A1E).
Arances cited a recent report by the civil society and church-led coal finance watchdog Withdraw from Coal (WFC) in which he also serves as convenor that “a top executive of BPI claimed that their loans to RP Energy and A1E, amounting to $ 632.58 million and $ 1,056.30 million respectively, did not push through.”
“We all know that banks’ money goes where they think it should to make more profit, and BPI’s statement confirms that coal is now simply unprofitable. With this and on top of the deadly, dirty, and costly impacts of coal to people and the environment, there’s no reason why an announcement of A1E’s cancellation shouldn’t be just around the corner as well.”
MGen has yet to comment on this.
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