House Approves Bill Allowing Use of Diesel as Alternative Fuel by Natural Gas Power Plants

(PNA) — The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill allowing natural gas power plants to use diesel as alternate fuel when there is an existing or imminent shortage of electricity.

House Bill 5587 amends Paragraph 5.3, Section 5 of Republic Act 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, which restricts natural gas power generating plants from using pure or straight-run diesel.

Earlier in March, the Malampaya natural gas power plant in Palawan had to undergo a month-long maintenance work. During the shutdown, Malampaya was not able to fuel the three power plants which provide half of Luzon’s electricity supply. These are the 1200-MW Ilijan power plant, the 1000-MW Santa Rita, and 50-MW San Lorenzo power plants, all located in the province of Batangas.

The shutdown prompted these power plants to shift from natural gas to expensive liquid fuel to continue operations. This subsequently resulted in the upsurge of electricity rates. The Santa Rita and San Lorenzo plants shifted to condensate while Ilijan used biodiesel.

“Power plants which would use biodiesel would have a reduced limited capacity due to lower combustion of biodiesel. This would further deplete the energy supply from power plants like these three,” Rep. Reynaldo V. Umali, chairman of the Committee on Energy and principal author of the bill, said.

To prevent a power outage, especially during periods of natural gas shortages, natural gas power plants in the country should be allowed to run on diesel fuel, Umali added.

“To achieve this objective, an amendment to Section 5 of RA 9367 that would exempt the Ilijan power plant and other similarly situated power generation plants in the country from compliance with the minimum biodiesel blend prescribed therein is needed,” Rep. Umali said.

The bill also authorizes the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Energy, to determine when there is an existing or imminent shortage of electricity as to exempt natural gas power generating plants from the requirements of Paragraph 5.3, Section 5 of RA 9367. (PNA) FFC/BNB/PR/EBP