By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

North Negros BioPower, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Arthur Aguilar said the 20 Megawatt (MW) San Carlos Biomass power plant will be operational by next month.

During recent groundbreaking ceremonies for the 25 MW biomass power plant in Manapla, Aguilar said, aside from the San Carlos facility, they are also scheduled to open another plant in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.

Once finished, all three power plants would have a total production of 70 MW of energy in Negros Occidental.

Aguilar noted, based on studies, a power shortage is expected by 2020 and stressed the importance of building new power plants.

He added, the facility is not planning to compete with local sugar mills, which produce power through the use of bagasse, the pulpy residue resulting from extracting juice from sugar cane.

“We want to complement them,” he explained. “Planters would provide cane to the sugar mills, leaving the cane trash, which we would use.”

Earlier, Marañon led the groundbreaking ceremonies for the said Manapla plant, saying the plant would add to the current power supply in Negros Occidental and characterized it as a “clean energy plant” that would help mitigate the effects of climate change.

The governor added, the extra power supply would also lower the cost of electricity./DGB, WDJ