Strong opposition for potential project in Irosin, Sorsogon in Philippines
Mount Bulusan, Philippines (source: flickr/ Alma Gamil, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
21 May 2013
The developer of the geothermal project at Irosin, Sorsogon in the Philippines is facing strong local opposition and is reminded of earlier successful attempts to block the project by locals.
Local opposition remains a key obstacle for a geothermal project in Irosin, Sorsogon in the Philippines.
In the 1990s Philippine National Oil Company had to abandon the project after local opposition and it seems like there continues to be strong sentiments against development.
Now the Department of Energy and contractor Summa Kumagai Inc. (SKI) are planning development of the project and are seeking talks with locals to gain support for the planned geothermal power plant.
Locals seem to be mostly concerned with acid gases from the exploration and operation and the impact development could have on the local hot spring business and tourism. Landslides and other concerns will constitute a big obstacle for the developer SKI.
The company was awarded the contract by DOE in 2010, which will in turn finance exploration, construction and operation. The company has five years to develop the explore the 26,000 hectares covering sections of different cities.
Locals are requesting that other energy source are to be explored, among them wind energy.
Source: Business Mirror
