i read his column over lunch. One reader presented an interesting (stop gap) solution to any looming power crisis.
What do you guys think? But then...tama ba, the real cause of the looming "power crisis" is the government capping the price hike? If so, i doubt if the self generators will sell you power unless you pay them market-rate prices.
Still, i find the setup intriguing.
Finally, something is moving!
DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 17, 2014 - 12:00am
<snipped>
:
Self generation and the grid
Roland M. Lorilla sent me an e-mail reacting to our column last Monday on the power situation. He doesnt believe a power shortage is inevitable because there is a huge amount of standby generating capacity, already installed and available just waiting to be utilized.
He continues: I am talking about the thousands of standby diesel generators installed everywhere, in malls, factories, buildings and business establishments. There could easily be 1000 megawatts (mw) available capacity and perhaps much more.
ShoeMart easily would have 100mw. Every Jollibee and McDonalds has a 100 kw and there are a few thousand of them and similar other establishments. Most high rise building would have 500kw to 2000 kw and there are hundreds of them too.
If no new power plants come on line and the power situation becomes critical, P-Noy must tap this source of power.
But there is a need to allow private generating sets to connect with the power grid via net metering. This will allow gensets to link up with the grid and make possible the import and export of electricity. The idea is for establishments (power consumers) to generate their own electricity and export the excess to the grid.
Net metering is akin to using a bidirectional kilowatt hour meter. When one is a net importer of power from the grid, the meter goes one way and when he is exporting power to the grid the meter goes the other way. He only pays for his net consumption.
Tying up with the grid is the crux of the matter here for it will allow the gensets to operate at optimum condition of load thereby maximizing its utility and efficiency.
Tax credit must be given to diesel genset operators. The amount of tax credit must be the amount of taxes levied on the consumed diesel and lube oil to generate power. Further tax credit can come from rebates of import duties and taxes when the gensets were imported as well as tax exemption from other taxes that can be levied on operating a generator. Simply said, make the operation tax free.
The implementation of all environmental laws and regulations (e.g. Clean Air Act) pertaining to operation of diesel engines for power generation must be suspended. The cost of complying with these laws and regulations are a huge hindrance to making small scale power generation feasible.
We have to make small scale power generation a profitable endeavor for many. The power consumers become stakeholders in power generation. It will also stimulate innovations in power generation.
More importantly, it will stabilize the cost of power because consumers can now generate their own electricity whenever grid power is deemed too expensive. In effect the cost of self generation becomes the limiting price of grid power.
So there it is: a quick fix solution to the impending power shortage. I did some rough computations and assuming a 100 kw base load genset operating at full load of 100 kw, with the cost of diesel fuel at P45/liter, the total cost of generation is roughly at P14.82/kwh.
What do you guys think? But then...tama ba, the real cause of the looming "power crisis" is the government capping the price hike? If so, i doubt if the self generators will sell you power unless you pay them market-rate prices.
Still, i find the setup intriguing.
Finally, something is moving!
DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 17, 2014 - 12:00am
Quote:
<snipped>
:
Self generation and the grid
Roland M. Lorilla sent me an e-mail reacting to our column last Monday on the power situation. He doesnt believe a power shortage is inevitable because there is a huge amount of standby generating capacity, already installed and available just waiting to be utilized.
He continues: I am talking about the thousands of standby diesel generators installed everywhere, in malls, factories, buildings and business establishments. There could easily be 1000 megawatts (mw) available capacity and perhaps much more.
ShoeMart easily would have 100mw. Every Jollibee and McDonalds has a 100 kw and there are a few thousand of them and similar other establishments. Most high rise building would have 500kw to 2000 kw and there are hundreds of them too.
If no new power plants come on line and the power situation becomes critical, P-Noy must tap this source of power.
But there is a need to allow private generating sets to connect with the power grid via net metering. This will allow gensets to link up with the grid and make possible the import and export of electricity. The idea is for establishments (power consumers) to generate their own electricity and export the excess to the grid.
Net metering is akin to using a bidirectional kilowatt hour meter. When one is a net importer of power from the grid, the meter goes one way and when he is exporting power to the grid the meter goes the other way. He only pays for his net consumption.
Tying up with the grid is the crux of the matter here for it will allow the gensets to operate at optimum condition of load thereby maximizing its utility and efficiency.
Tax credit must be given to diesel genset operators. The amount of tax credit must be the amount of taxes levied on the consumed diesel and lube oil to generate power. Further tax credit can come from rebates of import duties and taxes when the gensets were imported as well as tax exemption from other taxes that can be levied on operating a generator. Simply said, make the operation tax free.
The implementation of all environmental laws and regulations (e.g. Clean Air Act) pertaining to operation of diesel engines for power generation must be suspended. The cost of complying with these laws and regulations are a huge hindrance to making small scale power generation feasible.
We have to make small scale power generation a profitable endeavor for many. The power consumers become stakeholders in power generation. It will also stimulate innovations in power generation.
More importantly, it will stabilize the cost of power because consumers can now generate their own electricity whenever grid power is deemed too expensive. In effect the cost of self generation becomes the limiting price of grid power.
So there it is: a quick fix solution to the impending power shortage. I did some rough computations and assuming a 100 kw base load genset operating at full load of 100 kw, with the cost of diesel fuel at P45/liter, the total cost of generation is roughly at P14.82/kwh.