EDC renews power supply deal with Silliman University

By Myrna M. Velasco – March 24, 2022, 2:32 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Leading renewable energy firm Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has extended for another two years its power supply agreement with Silliman University, an academic institution in the Visayas which has been championing the utilization of green technology for its energy needs.

For this power supply deal renewal, Dr. Betty Cernol McCann, president of Silliman University, has stated that this is part of their sustained “commitment in institutionalizing our environmental principles, policies and guidelines that serve as the blueprint for the university’s major component activities in which renewable energy utilization is one.”

EDC fleshed out that under the terms of the contract, “there will be no cap in contracted demand, but this is expected to reach 2.4 megawatts when face-to-face classes resume.”

The RE firm will be supplying power to the university from the generated output of its Nasulo geothermal power facility which is sited in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

On the university’s decision to source power from EDC’s geothermal facility, McCann emphasized that they are aiming to “show the way by being a model of a sustainable campus, demonstrating the principles of zero waste, the waste management hierarchy, energy conservation, renewable energy utilization, biodiversity conservation, and a reduced carbon footprint.”

As various societal segments are now embracing green energy solutions in keeping the lights on, it is becoming a noble goal for humanity to do its virtuous share in addressing the world’s climate change predicaments.

Apart from environmental factors, Silliman University Vice President for Development Annette L. Belarmino qualified that another key consideration they weighed in underwriting the power supply contract had been cost-savings and the social impact that the use of clean energy technology will bestow on the campus’s ecosystem.

“We did the math and we saw some savings but more importantly, it is the quality of life that we give to our students on campus,” she stressed.

The university official added “they (students) see that we walk the talk, they see that our campus is green, and the savings from our energy is also passed on to our students — so economically, it has benefited the university as far as energy use is concerned.”

For the volume of electricity that had been supplied by EDC to the university in their initial two-year contract, it was assessed that roughly 2,602 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) had been avoided to be spewed into the atmosphere.

“This is consistent with the university’s aim of being a model sustainable campus, not only in Negros island but in the whole country through its programs in zero waste management, energy conservation, renewable energy utilization, biodiversity conservation and carbon footprint reduction,” EDC reiterated.