Story: ELMER RECUERDO
Photos: ICSC
TACLOBAN CITY –Amid increasing cost of electricity and worsening power stability, two towns in Samar Island have turned to solar energy to power their municipal buildings.
The towns of Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Paranas, Samar received a complete set of photovoltaic systems donated by the nongovernment Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) that will be installed at the rooftop of their respective municipal buildings.
Angelo Kairos Dela Cruz, ICSC executive director, said the project aims to kick-start the uptake of renewable energy (RE) of local government units by driving rooftop-mounted solar PV system adoption in municipal, commercial, industrial and residential buildings.
Photos: ICSC
TACLOBAN CITY –Amid increasing cost of electricity and worsening power stability, two towns in Samar Island have turned to solar energy to power their municipal buildings.
The towns of Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Paranas, Samar received a complete set of photovoltaic systems donated by the nongovernment Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) that will be installed at the rooftop of their respective municipal buildings.
Angelo Kairos Dela Cruz, ICSC executive director, said the project aims to kick-start the uptake of renewable energy (RE) of local government units by driving rooftop-mounted solar PV system adoption in municipal, commercial, industrial and residential buildings.
He said the project will increase energy independence and self-sufficiency of the local government units amid frequent power interruptions and blackouts affecting the entire Samar Island. This will also help achieve sustainability goals by reducing greenhouse gasses emissions and dependency on fossil fuels.
The project will also reduce long-term power cost and increase savings of the LGUs for other investments.
Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said Guiuan's continued reliance on the unstable and expensive electricity coming from the grid has pulled back the local economy from taking off.
"Our town has been plagued by high energy costs and frequent power outages. The crisis has deterred investors and hampered fisheries production," Kwan said. "We cannot take off; we remain poor because of problems in power."
The project will also reduce long-term power cost and increase savings of the LGUs for other investments.
Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said Guiuan's continued reliance on the unstable and expensive electricity coming from the grid has pulled back the local economy from taking off.
"Our town has been plagued by high energy costs and frequent power outages. The crisis has deterred investors and hampered fisheries production," Kwan said. "We cannot take off; we remain poor because of problems in power."
Kwan said the municipal government had been helpless in addressing the problem of power instability since even the Congress could not resolve it despite the numerous Congressional inquiries in the past.
She said solarization of the municipal building will inspire other establishments – both private enterprise and government agencies with offices in Guiuan whose operations are hampered by the frequent power interruptions – to follow suit.
Guiuan LGU received 100 pcs of solar panels with each panel capable of generating 600 watts or a peak capacity of 60,000 watts.
She said solarization of the municipal building will inspire other establishments – both private enterprise and government agencies with offices in Guiuan whose operations are hampered by the frequent power interruptions – to follow suit.
Guiuan LGU received 100 pcs of solar panels with each panel capable of generating 600 watts or a peak capacity of 60,000 watts.
Paranas Mayor Eunice Babalcon said the solarization of Paranas started way back with the installation of photovoltaic systems in 2019 to energize the municipal evacuation center and run the municipal material recovery facility.
Babalcon said the solarization of their municipal building "will fortify our solarization especially that our plans are geared towards climate action, mitigation and adaptation."
"Paranas understands the importance of taking care of our environment," she said. "This is one strong step towards realizing and contributing to the mitigation of climate impacts."
Under the project, ICSC will install 88 units of 555 watts bifacial solar panels for a total solar capacity of 48,840 watts.
Babalcon said the solarization of their municipal building "will fortify our solarization especially that our plans are geared towards climate action, mitigation and adaptation."
"Paranas understands the importance of taking care of our environment," she said. "This is one strong step towards realizing and contributing to the mitigation of climate impacts."
Under the project, ICSC will install 88 units of 555 watts bifacial solar panels for a total solar capacity of 48,840 watts.
The project mandates the LGUs to apply for Net Metering with their respective distribution utilities – Samar Electric Cooperative II for Paranas and Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative for Guiuan – to enable the LGUs to sell their surplus electricity, especially those generated during weekends when there are no operations at the municipal building.
If ESAMELCO approves the application, the Guiuan municipal building stands to be the first establishment in the entire Eastern Samar province to benefit from the Net Metering Law.(CJ/jmm/ER
-Calbayog Journal, October 17, 2024
If ESAMELCO approves the application, the Guiuan municipal building stands to be the first establishment in the entire Eastern Samar province to benefit from the Net Metering Law.(CJ/jmm/ER
-Calbayog Journal, October 17, 2024
