San Miguel Corp. is proposing to put up a 300-megawatt liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant in San Carlos City to complement the solar power farms in Negros Occidental, Bacolod mayoral candidate Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said on Tuesday, March 8.
The power plant is estimated to cost P18.5 billion and could take a year to build, he said.
“Once that is established we would have sufficient power in Negros and we would be completely renewable”, he said.
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport.
“If we can position Negros Occidental and Bacolod City to be completely green power, we will be the first of its kind,” he said.
Solar farms have been sprouting all over the province but the problem is the base load, he said.
If there is no sunlight, the solar farms cannot generate power, he said.
The national government is also eyeing setting up nuclear power plants, Benitez said.
The Department of Energy has already made a study and they are looking at Cagayan, Negros and Palawan as potential sites, he said.*