Imee Charlee C. Delavin (Business World)
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it will be pursuing the use of renewable energy to keep up with international maritime standards and to reduce the carbon footprint of ports.
In a statement on Thursday, PPA said the “Green Port” project is in line with the 25-year port development roadmap adopted by Philippine port stakeholders last month which will be submitted to President Rodrigo R. Duterte later this year.
“The Authority is gearing towards using sustainable energy in all its aspects of operations as much as possible,” PPA Assistant General Manager for Operations Hector E. Miole was quoted as saying. “Our international shipping counterparts have already agreed to reduce carbon emissions by a certain percentage in the next decade or so and it is only fitting to do the same in our ports.”
To support this program, PPA said it is looking to forge a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Philippine National Oil Company-Renewable Corporation (PNOC-RC) to implement the project, part of PPA’s commitment to the Ambisyon Natin 2040 program adopted by the current administration.
“Under the proposed MoA, PNOC-RC will provide technical expertise, review and design for the best kind of renewable energy sources, which will be used by the PPA in bidding out the said project. The result of the review is expected to be operational in six months upon signing of the MoA. The PPA, for its part, will determine the initial ports that will undergo the same ‘greening’ project,” its statement said.
The PPA noted that initially, the PNOC-RC is offering a guaranteed 100-kilowatt solar panel to be installed at the PPA Head Office, which is enough to cover at least a third of the agency’s lighting requirements, but will still be connected to the grid system to obtain the remaining power required.
“The initial outlay might be overwhelming, but its long-term effect to the financial aspect and environmental conservation outweighs all of that,” Mr. Miole said.
PPA said over the last three years, the Permanent International Association of Navigational Congresses, of which PPA is member, as well as the Japan Overseas Port Cooperation Association, recommended to the PPA that it make ports more disaster-resilient considering climate change, and make them environment-friendly by using sustainable sources of energy.
Aside from the “Greening project,” the 25-year Port Development Roadmap also includes plans for cruise shipping, industrial ports/zoning management, long-term infrastructure development, inter-connectivity, and supply chain development.