Baguio eyes Sto. Tomas property for waste to energy project

11 March 2021 – The city government is studying the feasibility of using a portion of its 139-hectare property in Sto. Tomas School Area as permanent site for the proposed development of a modern waste to energy facility.

This was announced by City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña after the city government received unsolicited proposals from two renewable energy companies signifying their intention to develop a modern waste to energy facility to contribute in the efforts of the local government in addressing the city’s solid waste disposal problem and produce quality renewable energy.

The city administrator claimed that the proposed waste to energy project will be built within the jurisdiction of the city although it might take a longer period of time before the same will be realized but what is important is that there will be significant advancements in the implementation of the proposed renewable energy project of the city which will be done through the public-private partnership.

According to him, the implementation of the proposed waste to energy project had already been seriously delayed because of the problem on the sites that were earlier identified where the facility will be erected.

Earlier, the Metro Global Renewable Energy Corporation conducted a pre-feasibility study on the proposed development of a waste to energy facility in Sablan town where the same will be constructed within an 8,000-square meter private property and will cost around P3.1 billion for the same to be operational.

One of the initial sites that was identified by the city for the waste to energy project was a portion of the 10.2-hectare area of the Baguio Dairy Farm that was ceded by the agriculture department to the local government as the same will be done in partnership with the State-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) and a Japanese waste to energy developer.

However, dela Peña explained that the city will already abandon its partnership with PNOC and the Japanese waste to energy company and open the proposed put up of the waste to energy plant to interested developers that can offer to the local government the best deal using the city-owned property in Sto. Tomas School Area as the permanent site for the project.

Under the proposal of Metro Global Renewable Energy Corporation, the waste to energy plant that will be built can convert some 500 tons of garbage from the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area to at least 10 megawatts of renewable power that will be sold to Benguet Electric Cooperative to be able to increase the mixture of renewable power to that of the power it is purchasing from coal-figured power generators. – Dexter A. See