BAGUIO CITY – The successful operation of a 12-megawatt rice husk power plant in San Jose, Nueva Ecija empowered the local power corporation to put up another similar power plant to maximize the utilization of rice husk and contribute to the generation of renewable power, a senior power official said here.
Egardo Alfonso, chief operating officer of the San Jose City I Power Corporation and president of the San Jose City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the operation of the rice husk power plants require at least 330 tons of rice husk daily in order to produce the required 12 megawatts output which is subsequently sold to the grid.
“We are lucky because San Jose city is the rice milling center of Central Luzon which contribute to the sustained operation of our rice husk power plants,” Alfonso stressed.
He explained the construction period of the company’s second renewable energy plant which is adjacent to its first plant will be two years and they are optimistic that the sustained operation of the power plants will contribute in the growth of the local economy in the future.
According to him, the construction of a rice husk power plant is at least P1 billion with a guaranteed market of the renewable power produced that is why the recovery period for its investment is shorter compared to securing long-term loans with financial institutions.
Alfonso explained their 12-megawatt rice husk power plant that is already operational has a carbon sequestration of at least 35,000 tons of carbon in the air which is equivalent to the emission of some 6,800 motor vehicles annually.
“Leaving the rick husk to decompose contributes to pollution because it produces methane gas. When it is burned, it produces carbon that is why it is best to burn the material and use the heat it produces for renewable power,” Alfonso stated.
He said being an agriculture-based city, efforts are undertaken to maximize the utilization of available agricultural land and its products for productive purposes instead of being converted into waste to help improve the economic condition of San Jose City.
Alfonso revealed San Jose City is strategically located because on its east is Aurora and Quezon provinces, on its west are Pangasinan and La Union areas, on its north are Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela provinces while on its south are Tarlac, Bulacan and Pampanga.
Alfonso cited there are still numerous investment agriculture-based investments in San Jose City because of the luxury of space that is why a good number of companies are now venturing on other forms of investments in order to sustain the city’s economic growth.
Members of the PCCI San Jose City Chapter are in the city attending the first Strategic Planning Workshop of the PCCI Northern Luzon led by area vice president Engr. Alfonso T. Lao.
By Dexter A. See
