The case for renewable energy

The case for renewable energy

By Tony La Vina | Posted on July 21, 2012 

On this fourth column of a series on energy, I make the case – in general terms – for renewable energy. Later, I will dedicate whole columns on specific RE sources such as geothermal, wind, and solar.

Shifting to a renewable energy-centric strategy for rehabilitating the Philippine electrical infrastructure is a radical option, and it will require significant investment of time, resources, and political will, beginning with the implementation (and monitoring) of the Renewable Energy Act.  It has, however, the potential to transform the power industry, and establish the foundations of clean energy and energy security. That transformation ironically centers on one complaint of RE technology aired by its critics: that they do not yield as much power as traditional fossil fuel, big hydroelectric, or nuclear generation, in absolute numbers and on a per-peso basis.

By their economics and technology the traditional means were suited for large-scale production of electricity, and in particular for baseload generation, to meet the expected, constant demand of consumers connected to a centralized electrical grid (some environmentally-friendly power generation can also serve as baseload power plants, such as geothermal plants, though they have their limitations). In contrast, solar photovoltaic (solar panels) and wind, the two commonly touted RE power options, cannot meet the requirements of baseload generation: small-scale and/or high expense, plus the intermittency of clear skies and wind.

Looking at this from the baseload, large-grid perspective, though, is like missing out the trees for the forest: emphasizing the main point of getting more power into the grid but missing out on the finer details of getting there. Instead of plopping down a few traditional, low cost-high yield-but-high environmental/fuel cost plants to address a geographic shortfall, why not spread it out across smaller RE plants and smaller grids?

RE power opens up the potentials of microgrids, distributed generation, grid energy storage, and grid-tied systems to revolutionize the otherwise traditional and centralized Philippine electrical infrastructure: large geographic grids fed by large-scale plants, transmitted across large distances through multiple substations to serve a large consumer base.

Microgrids we should be familiar with, because of projects combining these with RE to distant rural communities too far to be economically connected to the electrical grid. They are what the name implies: small-scale grids fed by small-scale plants to feed a small consumer base. They are perfect for such small-scale communities because households typically do not have the demand and voltage loads of heavy industry and dense urban areas.

Distributed generation spreads out the production of electricity from centralized sources, usually placing the power plant much closer to its intended consumer base than the traditional, centralized power plant—sometimes even on-site, such as solar panels on the roof of its intended user. Grid energy storage allows the infrastructure to smooth out the peaking nature of electrical demand by storing excess electricity for future use. These technologies also include the emerging use of electrical vehicles to serve as part of the storage medium. Finally, grid ties allow the grid storage system to safely interact with the main electrical grid, allowing the user to feed from the grid when his demand is high—and give his own excess electricity to the grid when his own demand is low.

These tools afford us an opportunity to decentralize the Philippine power industry in a radical fashion: subdividing and complementing the main grid, turning consumers into part-time producers. Industrial parks, places like seaports and airports, and dense urban communities (like the Makati Central Business District) can be served, even partially (e.g., low-voltage office loads in heavy industry) by grid-tied microgrids-cum-storage systems powered by on-site RE, feeding from and to the distribution grid powered by traditional and RE (e.g., large wind farms) power plants. Since these tend to shut down at specific times (e.g., business hours for industry and commercial), they can store energy produced at these times, or sell their production at Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) rates—an attractive incentive for industrial parks, commercial centers, and even household communities to set up their own private RE generators to supplement income.

All this will require heavy research and infrastructure investment, not just in the power plants, but also in the grid—the transmission and distribution sides of the electrical industry. But the truth is our power infrastructure, from plants to power lines, is aging. A change is due and the choice is clear. We can continue to do things the old-fashioned way with a business-as-usual approach that dooms us to the current situation of inadequate and expensive power. Or we can be bolder and take the RE route which give us the chance to permanently alter the bad status quo and guarantee in the long term cheaper, more reliable, and environmentally friendlier energy.