Tuesday, May 15, 2007

First Catanduanes High Voltage DC Interconnection (FCHVDCI), It’s First BLACKEYE

One thing about excellent ideas, they most certainly, most of the time have a big price. Our dream, The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Interconnection from the mainland has suffered its first major ‘blackeye’.

Transco, which stands for National Transmission Corporation, the new government agency which took over the Napocor’s Transmission Section , as part of Napocor’s privatization, has published its 2006 TDP. TDP stands for Transmission Development Plan. It is a 10-year plan which gets updated each year covering ten year periods. Started in 2004, the TDP has been published by Transco each year since.

In the 2004 TDP, our Island of Catanduanes was included by Transco as one of the islands proposed to get the Island Interconnection from the mainland. We were tentatively scheduled for 2010. At this point the project was under a feasibility study.

In the 2005 TDP, we were moved down for the year 2014. It is important to note that Boracay which is raking in tax money for itself and for our national coffers, was featured in this TDP for the first time.

As you read this, the Boracay Interconnection is either complete or in the process of getting completed.

In the 2006 TDP, Catanduanes and Marinduque appear somewhere in the back indexes of the Development Plan with the following status: PROJECT DROPPED, PROJECT NOT FEASIBLE.

THERE ARE NO DETAILS OFFERED FOR THE CHANGE IN STATUS.

To view the three TDP's above go to:
http://www.transco.ph/projects.asp

The mention of Boracay above is not to express our jealousy over their good fortune with the Island Intercnnection project. We are happy for Boracay and its residents. The reference to Boracay is to point out that they obviously easily qualified to get the project because of their current income from tourism. Our island did not meet the same ECONOMIC REQUIREMENT to make it ‘feasible’ . This simply means that the folks who carried out the study DID NOT SEE OR FORESEE ANY FINANCIAL RETURNS for the project. There was no anticipated income to be had once the project is completed. Thus, it was NOT feasible.

It may seem not feasible at this point for these guys, but this is NOT the end of our battle. This is our island, this is our challenge, we take this battle forward. We do not give up.

Anyone who thinks we do not deserve the same sufficient, affordable, stable, 24 hours-a-day, 7 days a week, power supply that most of our island neighbors enjoy, either does not live on the island of Catanduanes or does not care.

We should NOT and CANNOT accept this decision. If we do, we will remain economically backwards for many years to come.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AMOUNT OF POWER AVAILABLE TO US FROM OUR PRESENT POWER GENERATING PLANTS DO NOT MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIRED FOR A SUSTAINED LIGHT TO MEDIUM INDUSTRY.

Big hotels cannot be built on our island and be profitable. We do not even have the capability of running big 3-ph, high horsepower motors. Our electrification is not industry grade. It is the bare minimum so you can read at night and a few other things.
It is very unstable, expensive, unreliable.

Getting the Island Interconnection will solve all these headaches. So, the crusade is on.
Let us find out why our island Interconnection was considered fit for the shelves. Let us find out how the feasibility was carried out, how it was justified as NOT FEASIBLE.

What participation did our island officials make in the feasibility study. Did we have any part in it? Were we invited to participate?

How do we put our Island Interconnection back on the TDP?


We simply cannot and should not give this up.

Joe Joson
Global Catandunganon, California

Friday, February 23, 2007

A Dream, A Necessity, A Must For Catanduanes

First Catanduanes High Voltage DC Interconnection (FCHVDCI) . Obviously a dream at this point.

Over the past few years, I have brought to the attention of our fellow islanders the necessity for an Island Interconnection from the mainland. This Interconnection will make more sense by reading in depth the old articles I have written in the past which I am republishing in the following pages. To add to our knowledge of the Interconnection, I will be posting 'borrowed' articles from the internet, post photographs and provide links related to the subject at this site.

Very quickly, let me go over just what the HVDC or Island Interconnection is all about. It is an electrical power transfer system that can transfer huge amounts of electricity from one point to another which could be hundreds of miles apart. Transmission lines could be underwater, buried in the ground or overhead. Mostly, these transmissions are underwater. The larger islands of the Visayas as Bohol, Cebu, Negros, Samar, Panay are PRESENTLY drawing power from the geothermal electrical plants of Leyte using this technology. Excess power from Leyte actually reaches the Manila area by way of Samar, Sorsogon, Camarines , on to Quezon and eventually to Manila. Boracay is scheduled to get their Interconnection as well. Plans are afoot to link the three main islands Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao using this technology. For the most part, Luzon and the Visayas are pretty much 'hooked together electrically. Mindanao will eventually get interconnected.

A necessity:

As we all witnessed the recent destruction of everything on the island by super typhoon Reming, one of the key infrastructures that we all treasure and NEED, the electrical power, is still reeling from this devastation. It is not just very costly to rebuild, it also delivers crippling losses economically, it is a lot of inconvenience to all of us. To date, months later, the electrical restoration efforts, could very well be still needing completion. We also get visited by typhoons more often than our neighbors. We are the real typhoon doormat of the Pacific. We have this very unique, very special need to get this technology as soon as we can.

A must for Catanduanes:

With most of the Interconnection transmission cables reaching the island being underwater, survivability of our power supply from the mainland could indeed be very high. It gets even better if in the future, we can actually bury most of our High Voltage transmissions on the island. Remember, the HVDC transmission is very efficient over long distances without a lot of power loss.

When and if typhoons hit, as long as the underwater and underground cables are intact, most of our power will not be affected. The only ones that will need repair will be those lines that are run on posts and exposed above ground. It would be nice to sit in your living room watching the crazy typhoon rage outside, while you read in your living room with all your electrical power supplying all the electrical needs of your house, unaffected. As long as the power source and the interconnections are intact, the power should not be interrupted. While a typhoon rages on our island, Leyte continues to put out power, feeds it to all its high voltage lines, we continue to exist in relative advantage and comfort.

Another point to remember: New housing developments in most cities of America, 'bury their wires'. Although power lines still criss cross the American landscape specially in older cities, the new ones have most of their power laid underground. Neighborhoods have no wires to be seen. Occasionally one sees green boxes on someone's lawn which I believe are local transformers.

Priority:

High on our priority is to get our first Cable or Cables from the mainland to the most convenient point on our island. We will worry about the 'burial' of the rest of the power lines later.

Existing Transmission Development Plan (TDP) of Transco shows we are 'scheduled' to get our Interconnection in the year 2014. A year or so ago we were scheduled in 2010. Our priority is also very low. We fall under the so called Indicative category which simply means, it could drag on for ages.

Please visit the Transco website and read up on the TDP at: http://www.transco.ph/projects.asp. I believe that we have a very justifiable reason to beg, knock, push, scream, twist arm, beg some more to get our Interconnection priority pushed higher.

Economics and Justification:

In the long run, the savings in repeated repairs and reconstructions of our power lines each time we get beaten by typhoons, will be huge.

With power survivability raised or protected, our overall economy will recover much faster after each typhoon.

LIVES will NOT be as disrupted. I believe this is VERY important. At least for us who are affected.

The Interconnection also delivers almost UNINTERRUPTED and LARGE amount of electrical power. This will allow for the operation of bigger industrial capacity electrical motors, electrical water pumps for localized irrigations. I can't help but remember at this point the very huge billboards along the main highway connecting Southern and Northern California. It says simply, "Where water flows, FOOD grows!"

DO NOT FORGET THIS: OUR PRESENT OVERALL ELECTRICAL OUTPUT CAPACITY, EVEN WHEN IT IS FULLY OPERATIONAL , WILL NOT, IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE SUFFICIENT to cover our industrial electrical needs. Not to mention that while it is meager in capacity, it also continues to blink out.

Enough said. I am ready to beg as I have said above. I hope you are as well. Perhaps, the Lady President, being the great economist that she is, will hear of our challenge and might....just might lend us her ears.

I believe in teamwork, I believe in miracles. I also believe in being a lifter instead of being a leaner. The more folks lifting, the more will be accomplished.

And if after we ask, we fail, let us get up and ask again. One wise guy said, "Winners never quit. Quitters never win". And yet another wise fellow said, "Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed!"

To get a basic understanding of the HVDC, click the following link http://www.abb.com/hvdc and explore the site. ABB has a branch office in Manila.




Feedbacks will be greatly welcomed. Critiques will be appreciated.

Please send these things to : blackhawk74@yahoo.com

Joe Joson
Global Catandunganon
Anaheim
, California

HVDC Revisited

This is a follow up article on the HVDC (Industrialization of Catanduanes) below , published in mid-2002 by the CT.

In 2004 , the newly formed Transco (2001-2002) published in their website something that should be of great interest to all Catandunganons. Transco is the transmission section of the old Napocor which is now being privatized. Privatization would allow for better management of our electrical industry but as some recent news articles indicate, there are some 'growing pains' in management and implementation. Not to worry. They are fixable challenges.

You may now read about the projected HVDC or Small Island Internconnection Project at the Transco website which SHOWS CATANDUANES AS BEING LINED UP TO GET ITS OWN CONNECTION FROM THE MAINLAND. The project is in its early stages. Feasibility studies are in progress. Project is not funded yet. But God willing, and the good folks at Transco has us slotted for the year 2010 to perhaps get things rolling, we will see this dream come to reality sooner than we expected.

Please go to : http://www.transco.ph/tdp.asp




HVDC Revisited

This is a continuation of an effort now seemingly gaining some support from ‘friends and family’ at this point. Hopefully it gains enough support from the public and respective government agencies so that soon this option for a more stable, sufficient and affordable power which is indeed at our doorstep and very practical , could be given some very serious attention and finally be made a REALITY.

For those who did not get to read my first letter on the HVDC please go to the archives section of the October 1st issue of the Tribune and click on letters. It will help make sense of this letter.

Going over the concept of the HVDC quickly: It stands for High Voltage Direct Current. It is a system now widely used around the world including several completed, in-progress and proposed projects in the Philippines. This system allows for the efficient transmission of bulk power over long distances without a lot of power loss as compared to the usual High Voltage AC that uses transformers at several points. It also finds a favorable use in transmissions where transmission lines will have to traverse large bodies of water such as inter-island connections where cables are run on the ocean floor. HVDC links tap into existing high voltage AC grids. High voltage AC is converted into high voltage DC using converters at the source end, transmitted for as far as several hundred kilometers using special DC cables, then to get properly distributed at the other end, power is converted back into High Voltage AC. End users utilize the stepped down voltages of 440AC, 220VAC or 120VAC depending on your locality.

Why HVDC and not hydro power or diesel generators for our power source? There are some very good reasons. While hydro power plants for power generation are efficient and cost effective once completed, in comparison the HVDC is very competitive in practicality and economics. Hydro plants require dams to be built, generators to be purchased and maintained. HVDC’s however use converter stations, DC cables, huge switching devices and that’s it. HVDC’s do not generate its own power, it simply converts then transmits huge power more efficiently. And why not diesel generators? Again in time these machines break down plus fossil fuels are expensive. And the big bonus for HVDC systems: they can transfer as much as 3500MW of power per single unit. If we can get 50MW of power for the island, it will be a very good start. HVDC’s are also upgradable to higher MW capabilities. Again HVDC’s have NO MOVING PARTS save for perhaps some cooling pumps,motors and fans. HVDC’s require that we be tied up to the national high voltage grid. One more goodie: When transmission cables are laid at the bottom of the ocean, communication cables could be laid at the same time.

As mentioned above there are several projects in the Philippines that have either been completed, in-progress or on the drawing board that utilizes HVDC either to augment existing power generation facilities or become the main source of power.

INTERCONNECTION PROJECTS:

Leyte-Luzon HVDC: The power source is the Leyte Geothermal Plants in the province of Leyte which generates an aggregate 700MW of power. The province uses 115MW while the excess power is serviced to the Leyte-Luzon HVDC and the Leyte-Cebu HVDC which transmits 385MW and 200MW respectively. Leyte-Luzon HVDC has a 450km DC transmission line which includes 23km of submarine cables. The DC transmission lines run from Leyte to Naga in Camarines Sur. Converter stations are in Ormoc, Leyte and Naga, Camarines Sur. The rest of the transmission lines could be AC and it goes all the way to the metropolitan Manila area. This project was commissioned in 1998.

Leyte-Cebu HVDC: The project was commissioned in 1997. Power transfer capacity is 200MW. Cablerun is submarine or underwater type and around 32km long. It runs from the geothermals in Leyte to the Cebu loadcenters.

Leyte-Samar HVDC: Project commissioned in 1987. Power transfer capacity 200MW. Cablerun is 130km. An existing bridge between Leyte and Samar was utilized to run the cables across the water. The original project used wooden poles to run the aerial cablerun over land.

Negros-Panay HVDC: Project commissioned in 1990. Power source is the geothermal plant in Negros. Power transfer capacity is 100MW. Cablerun is a total of 167km, 18km of which is underwater at a maximum depth of 60 meters.

Negros-Cebu HVDC: Project commissioned in 1993. Cablerun is 18km underwater and 109km overhead. Power transfer capacity is 100MW.

Leyte-Bohol HVDC: Project commissioned in 2000. Phase II in 2002. Cablerun is 17km underwater and 157km overhead or aerial. Transfer capacity is 100MW. This is supposedly the final phase of the Cebu-Negros-Panay-Leyte-Samar-Bohol or CNPLSB grid.

There is still the Leyte-Mindanao HVDC project which is the final phase for connecting mainland Mindanao to the Luzon and Visayas grids above.

POLICIES, PROGRAMS, KEY PROJECT PLAYERS AND ‘BASIC TOOLS’:

EPIRA or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
This Act made possible the deregulation of the power industry and the eventual privatization of state-owned enterprises. The National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) was created to handle high voltage transmission concerns separate from power generation.

TRANSCO Roles and Responsibilities states, ‘The Act became effective June 26, 2001 and established the necessary legal framework to enable full restructuring and privatization of the power industry. Under the new structure, the electricity industry in the Philippines was officially segregated for regulatory purposes into the separate functional areas of Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Supply as a regulated natural monopoly. As part of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act a requirement was placed on Transco to prepare a TDP or Transmission Development Plan.’

TDP’s map out transmission projects for the country over 10 year periods. TDP is prepared annually and could be amended to incorporate the Energy Regulatory Commission or ERC rulings on proposed projects or investment plans.


Part of the Introduction section of the TDP of 2003 states, ‘The Plan sets out the manner in which TRANSCO aims to promote reliable, adequate,secure and stable service for ALL USERS of the nationwide electricity transmission system.’

The TDP of 2003 further elaborates on TRANSCO’s duties under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, ‘The key functions and responsibilities of TRANSCO or its concessionaire as defined in the EPIRA include:
-to provide open and NON-DISCRIMINATORY access to its system to ALL ELECTRICITY USERS
-to ensure and maintain the reliability,ADEQUACY,security,stability and integrity of the Grid
-to prepare the TDP in consultation with Electric Power Industry Participants
-to improve and EXPAND its transmission facilities consistent with the TDP and the Grid Code.’

Independent Power Producers or IPP’s:
These guys help make a lot of dreams become reality. From the United States, Europe and Asia come these players. They plan, finance, build. Some offer engineering services, others offer project management and the rest are either taking care of financing and some do whole projects. They strike up partnerships among each other, take on a major project and make things happen faster than if it had been left solely to government. This is the beauty of privatization.

From the geothermals of Leyte to the gas fired multimegawatt plants in Batangas, they are all coming together, thanks to this ‘invention’ called privatization. With foreign investment and participation, the whole industry is being sold and privatized to have more efficiently delivered and managed power.

Build Operate Transfer (BOT), Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT), Build Own Operate (BOO), Etc:

Here are a few examples:

Quezon Power Facility, Mauban, Quezon. This is a 470MW, coal fired plant in operation since July 2000. The first Build Own Operate power project of the Philippines, Quezon Power came to be through the partnership of foreign players. Financing was $809M in debt and equity including political risk guarantees of $405M from the US Import-Export Bank. The project issued $215M of SEC registered bonds.

Leyte Geothermal Optimization Project: Built in the framework of Build Own Operate Transfer scheme. Owned and operated by Ormat Leyte Co Ltd/ Ormat, USA. Ten years down the road, it gets turned over to PNOC-EDC, Philippines.

Upper Tongonan Geothermal, Leyte: Joint project between Ormat Industries and CalEnergy, both US companies. ‘The exhaust from four 20MW steam sets is used to drive six 7MW Ormat binary units. Part of distribution is to the island of Cebu 65 km west of Leyte via an UNDERWATER cable (HVDC). Ormat will Own and Operate the project for 10 years after which time ownership will transfer to the Philippine government.’

Casecnan HydroElectric, Nueva Ecija: Combined irrigation and hydroelectric power project. Began operation in December 2001. Capacity 150MW. Project scheme is Build Operate Transfer. CalEnergy will Own Operate for 20 years. Financing was with the sale to institutional buyers of $396M Senior Secured notes and Bonds and $75 million Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes.

Above are just a few of the many power generation facilities now in existence in the country. More are planned for completion. The geothermals in Leyte and Negros will increase in number. And so will the gas fired plants. Thanks to the newly built gas pipeline from the Malampaya gas field, near Palawan that now supplies fuel to the 3 huge gas fired power plants in Batangas. More will be built. Old plants running on coal or diesel fuel are going to get upgrades or converted into more efficient gas fired units. These will not happen overnight. But with IPP’s coming from the U.S. and Asia, these projects are soon going to be realities.

Strategis of Canada, has in one of its 1997 publications, a list that shows most of the existing power generating plants of the Philippines. I counted 27 completed, awarded for construction, under public bidding power projects under the BOT scheme, 7 BTO’s and more.

The same publication shows a list of a dozen IPP’s which does not show most of the recent bigger international players.

Our challenge:
This writer does not claim to have direct knowledge on the method , logic or rationale used by our national planners as far as who or what particular province or island gets connected to the national grid first. One thing is clear at this point so far. Catanduanes is NOT part of anyone’s plan to become part of the national high voltage grid yet. We are however slated to get smaller MW generators that are diesel driven or perhaps some wobbly wind powered generators.

Helllooo!!! As we bickered, argued and lost sleep over our own power woes on the island, back in October of last year, IPP First Gas Power Corporation was begging Transco to BOOST TRANSMISSION ACCESS so it could sell its excess power that were coming out of its ears! They were overproducing as we skimped and scratched for power on the island. Now, if we were hooked up to the main grid, our present problem would have been history. As shown above, the TDP is prepared annually and it is open to amendments as expansions, upgrades to the grid that are seen fit by the ERC. An example of such amendment is the recent approval to upgrade the Negros-Cebu and Negros-Panay HVDC Interconnections. I mean we do not even have to spend our own money folks. We allow others to spend their money on us. It is the old OPM. Other People’s Money is used for our benefit.

Once the 3 main islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are interconnected, any end user tied up to this main grid will reap a major benefit that others who are separate from it, will not get. This ladies and gentlemen will separate those provinces that will prosper and those that will remain in the dark ages, be continually pestered by power outages, high power rates and insufficient power. By being tied up to the main grid, power shortages in one area could be quickly fixed by excess power from other areas. The system becomes very flexible. This will get better as more generating plants are added to the grid and more interconnections such as the ‘First Catanduanes HVDC Link’ comes into play. If we stay mum and satisfied with status quo, we are doomed to our present economic status or worse. Industrialization on The Rock is stuck. We are dead ducks. No leader in his right mind will accept this however, granted that we are surrounded with opportunities as shown above.

What needs to happen:
We need to become part of The Main or National Grid. We need to set this as OUR goal, decide that come hell or high water we will do what needs to be done to go after this dream. Once we have set our sights on it, we need to put in motion the brainpower available on The Rock. We put together local management teams that will handle different areas such as engineering, planning, financing. Then we coordinate with those folks who have been-there-done-that all over the country. We get in touch with the IPP’s of the world, international management teams actively participating in the Philippines. We need men and women who are driven and motivated to make this happen. We need to either sweet talk or twist some arms at ERC and TRANSCO and let them know that we are not second class citizens and deserve to have the same benefits as our neighbors. It is spelled out in the TDP that one of Transco’s duties and responsibilities is to provide NON-DISRIMINATORY access to its system for all users. One will have a hard time convincing me that more than 200,000 men, women and children is not a significant number enough that we are to continue living with measly 3,4 or 5 MW of power while our neighbors have power up their you know what.

Those who cannot hack the job need to take a long walk and make room for those who can and who will make this happen. We have no more room for people who will jump up and down and recite reasons why it cannot happen. We need leaders who will come up with ways on how to make it happen, rise up above insults, criticisms,excuses and get the job done. It’s either you shape up or you ship out!

I am calling on all concerned citizens, watchdogs, adventurers, sorcerers, witches….and politicians on the island. This job is very doable ladies and gentlemen. Above projects are a living witness that we do have able bodied leaders in this country. They have made it happen. It is now our turn. Any takers?


Joe Joson
Anaheim, ‘Califoonia’


P.S.
For feedback, please send to: blackhawk74@yahoo.com

Industrialization of Catanduanes

In one of my short letters to the Tribune I made a comment that as far as industrialization of the province is concerned, unless we do something about our electrical power, we will be limited to the manufacture of handicrafts and not much more. I also suggested that the geothermal power plant in Tiwi is a major source of power that we could tap into. Easier said than done. Four or more hours of research on the internet revealed some very interesting and encouraging facts. The latest data I gathered on Tiwi was printed around the middle of this year. Tiwi is presently generating 350 MW of power. And a lot of that power leaves the Bicol Region to support the national grid. I thought that we should look at this power source for our own power supply in Catanduanes.

What could this mean for Catanduanes? Sufficient, steady and hopefully more affordable power. This means a lot to prospective business owners and manufacturers who will want reliable and affordable power before they set up shop. This could mean a lot to all the citizens of the island. The farmers could, as individuals, irrigate farmlands for increased food production, advanced aquaculture projects that require 24-hr power could be made possible, manufacturing companies that require steady and continuous power will appear and a host of facilities such as hotels and motels will then be able to provide better accommodations with hot water and plenty of power for air conditioning. Refrigeration of a lot of things including farm produce, meat and fish will become affordable. Restaurants will boom and flourish. All these will create a lot of jobs. I would say that as we speak, a number of prospective businesses have considered setting up shop on the island. But upon realizing that there is no steady,sufficient and affordable power, they go somewhere else. Future businesses and manufacturers will need more power than we currently have. And we are not just talking about local businesses but potential multinational ones. None of these would want to set up their businesses on the island, not until we have beefed up our electrical system.

The bulk and backbone of the national economy of the United States are not the big corporations. The small businesses are. The small businesses GENERATE INCOME not just for themselves but for the community by way of salaries to employees and taxes to the local government. Every state of the United States have their own budget which are INTERNALLY GENERATED from taxes and so on. The more financially capable the community, the richer the state becomes. The richer the state the more community services are given back to the people.

What is the point? There are times when local government has to look at the federal or national coffers for certain projects but it is better when local government is GENERATING ENOUGH OR MORE income on its own so it DOES NOT ALWAYS LOOK to the federal or national government for financial assistance. The individual states are and must be SELF SUFFICIENT.

We as people must look for ways on how to GENERATE INCOME FROM WITHIN WITHOUT WAITING FOR DOLE OUTS FROM THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. If national government money ever comes, good, but it is never enough and will never be enough at the rate our national economy is going. We need to strive very hard to become self sufficient. This is how we as a province can fund our own projects, create our own wealth, grow our own economy, achieve our own self sufficiency.

Self sufficiency on the island could be realized by EMPOWERING THE POPULATION. How? By coming up with ways on how to generate income from within AND SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER IN ALL OUR ENDEAVORS. We have to acquire,as citizens and community, the proper TOOLS needed to produce, create, build. Again in order for us to move forward economically we have to have some very basic infrastructures in place first. Namely, sufficient, reliable and affordable power. This is one of the TOOLS that the community needs to move ahead with progress. In order of priority, this should be at the very top. Just think about this one. Look around us and see if we can find any country or community that is very successful economically and has no reliable, affordable and sufficient power. We will not find one.

The technology now exists to have this POSSIBILITY introduced to the islands. China has recently put into operation one of the biggest power generating plants in the world at the Three Gorges Dam. Twenty six huge generators each capable of producing 700 megawatts of power were recently put into service. The huge power generated at the dam is useless unless it is distributed to the end users. We are talking about hundreds of miles of power lines to accomplish this. This is where the result of my research comes in. Some of the power generated at the Three Gorges Dam are distributed using a system that is more practical and economical to install, maintain and operate as compared to an AC system carrying the same amount of load.
The system is called High Voltage Direct Current or HVDC system. This system can transmit up to 3000 MW of power. A smaller version that can handle power of between 7MW to 350MW is called Light HVDC. The latter is more suited for our island since it will be less expensive than the bigger units and for starters we will need less than 100MW. We should be thrilled to have 50MW of steady power to start with or even a little less?

Why HVDC or Light HVDC? Instead of the high voltage AC system, power transmission is accomplished by converting the high voltage AC to high voltage DC and at a certain point of transmission is converted back to useful AC. The DC link uses converter stations at both ends. Two DC cables form the link and are either buried underground or underwater and in some cases towers are used for aerial transmission. The system is possibly one of the best options available to us if we are to get power from the mainland . We will have no fuel consumption to worry about, no moving parts on any of the equipment save for motors and pumps to cool components perhaps. The power converters are all static. Power generation will no longer be our problem. We simply ‘plug our cable’ into the system and start having more power.

As long as Tiwi is producing power, we can tap into that grid at a point that is the closest possible distance between Catanduanes and the mainland or where the closest AC grid might be. I understand that we are separated from the mainland by a few miles of ocean at the closest point. The system is suited for an efficient way of very long distance transmission of ‘bulk’ power .

Sounds very nice indeed. But ALL NICE THINGS COME WITH A PRICE. This is where we put our heads together, dare to have a vision and make a commitment to accomplish something big no matter how huge the obstacles. Something that will help free ourselves from poverty, something that will become our stepping stone to greater accomplishments in the future.

It has been many many years since I left the island. We had no electricity available where we lived at that time and we were only 3 miles from the town center where there were some light bulbs seen occasionally. Now we have a few more light bulbs to boast about. If someone fires up a few huge 3-phase motors, air condition units and so on, the generators will possibly start to hiccup and die. In another thirty years we will probably have 5 to 10 megawatts of power added to our power grid IF WE GET LUCKY. That is if we do not set our sights on a SPECIFIC ‘target’ megawatt NOW to be made available at a predetermined date in the future and if we as people do not band together and move as ONE and collectively apply ourselves with the greatest determination to accomplish this one specific goal.

Thirty years from now the island will still be in poverty. We NEED TO and MUST break away from poverty. No one is destined be poor forever. And we cannot and should not wait for national government to do this for us. At the rate that the national government is performing, we could wait another fifty years and we would still be in the same predicament that we are now in, if not worse. It is time that we as people create our own destiny. We cannot and should not wait for others to shape our destiny. If we are to succeed, if we are to move forward, if we are to accomplish bigger and better things, if we are to look poverty squarely in the face, if we are to change history on the island…it is UP TO ALL OF US to make it happen.

The American pioneers came penniless but they were full of daring. They dared to dream. They were persistent and they acted on their dreams. Before electricity was discovered they used wind power and water power to run mills. They used what was available to them to advance their situation. When the Taiwanese ran to their little island they did not have too many things left either. Both groups of people had no national government to run to for help. They were being chased down the road by their former countrymen. They were on their own. Yet both excelled in what they wanted to accomplish.

Our challenges are not the same as the challenges these people had to face. We do not have the national government running after us. We have a national government that is for the moment close to paralysis. Our situation on the island is not hopeless. If we move forward together we will not just survive but excel. Now is the time to set this goal. Set our sights on one huge goal that we need so badly to give us a good jumpstart. We need one good-sized ‘morale booster’ of an accomplishment that we could call our own. One goal that will generate income for the whole community. One major goal that will lift us out of the rut we are in. Our attitudes should be such that we will not tolerate any buts and ifs but decide to face this exciting and challenging dream NOW. It is doable! I heard one smart fellow put it this way, ‘MAKE THE DECISION FIRST, THEN SOLVE THE PROBLEM. DO NOT TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM FIRST, THEN MAKE THE DECISION.’

The beauty of our time is that there are so many resources, ideas that we could copy, borrow and utilize. We do not have to re-invent the wheel. So, let me borrow an author’s story on how we went to the moon and how the obstacles that had to be surmounted to accomplish this great human feat were dealt with. The then President John F. Kennedy, determined to outshine the Soviets in the space race, MADE THE DECISION TO PUT MAN ON THE MOON at a predetermined time in the future which was like ‘soon’! He picked one of the best qualified persons to lead the project. Once informed of his new job, the lead person said, “Impossible”! But then he reasoned to himself that if he was going to say that something was impossible, it was only fair that he could say why he thought it was impossible. So, he named all the reasons why. So much ‘engineering’ had to be solved and invented before they could say that the project was doable. The specific challenges were pinpointed. Each challenge was assigned to one special group to solve. Slowly, one at a time, solutions to each problem materialized. Slowly, the ‘impossible’ seemed within reach. Finally, the impossible became possible! As you can see, President Kennedy made the decision first. Then the CITIZENS, motivated by the desire to be the first nation to send man on the moon, solved the problem.

Another great accomplishment in history was the feat led by General Jimmy Doolittle during WWII. President Roosevelt bristled at his admirals and generals for telling him that bombing mainland Japan was NOT within the U.S. forces’ capabilities. He refused to be defeated. He asked everyone present to come up with solutions instead of reasons why the task was not possible. Later, one bright and daring submarine officer came up with the idea of using bombers for the first time on aircraft carriers to deliver the much needed ‘morale boosters’ for America. That one single feat helped turn the tides of the war to our side. Again, a leader MADE THE DECISION FIRST to accomplish something that many deemed impossible. Once the decision was in place, human brains went to work and delivered success. Ladies and gentlemen, I heard that we have something like 200,000 men, women and children on the island. Let us put these brains to work and run after a dream!

‘Ay inay, saen man baga kita makoa nin pilak na pang gastos!’, would be one of the very first questions that will pop up. Great! Someone please grab pen and paper and put that on the list of reasons why the project is deemed impossible. ‘And who would lead the pack to tackle this exciting challenge’? Add this to the list. And who are these folks who might be the experts who will work to find the solutions to the challenges? Write that down too. As we can see the list is growing. Once the list of all the ‘impossibilities’ are in, we can look at each one and start chipping away at them.

Now, I find this challenge extremely exciting. And we do not have to re-invent the wheel. We borrow ideas. The world is full of success stories that started from ‘scratch’ to become huge accomplishments. One very successful businessman and lecturer pointed out that when faced with a huge challenge to build, worry not about the money involved but think on the idea itself. The concept or idea has to be excellent, will fill the need of a lot of people, will return dividends to those who put money into it. Dividends do not always have to be in the form of money. For some very wealthy people, dividends could mean simply the satisfaction of seeing his efforts and assistance materialize and help a group of people or community. Ideas that are excellent attract people with money. The world is full of people with money waiting to be invested in great ideas or projects that will also bring them more money. With a lot of our fellow Catandunganons scattered around the world, the world itself has become our backyard so to speak. We need to knock on people’s doors, make a lot of productive noise, sell our ideas to rich investors, make our island known for its excellent potential.

How did Taiwan finance their economy during their early years? How did mainland China attract all these multinational companies to invest in their country? And what do we have now in our province that we can utilize to attract investors with? If we do not have them in place, do we as people, a province, have the freedom and the will to create policies that will attract outside investors? Tax breaks for the first 10 years of operation? Build operate transfers? Can Catanduanes be made into an international port with its own customs and immigrations departments to facilitate and simplify many things and processes? Products and services from and to overseas locations will bypass the bureaucracies of Manila. Cebu made this a reality and they are doing better than most provinces. California routinely uses bonds to finance huge projects. They get the big money now and use it and pay for it later long term. Schools are sometimes built in cities from additional taxes that are decided by voters in initiatives during local and national elections. On irrigation projects USER FEES are collected and used to pay for construction cost. Once in place and operational, a system like the HVDC, with proper management, will pay for itself from user fees, taxes generated by businesses, taxes from all the jobs created, tourism, you name it.

To build the HVDC link to our island is going to cost a good chunk of money. In 2002 a system 40 kilometers long and delivering 330MW of power was completed creating a link between New England and Long Island, New York. Total cost: $120 million. Our cost should be a small fraction of this amount. And yes, you can say that again. Where in the world are we going to get the money from?

Remember, this is our ‘impossible’ dream. This is a dream that will make the difference between living in below standards conditions for a long time to come or living in comfort and prosperity sometime in the future . Our poor conditions in the province which we have learned to face daily for a long time need to go! We have been humbled by it long enough. We could remain humble people but this time we should be humble and proud BUT NOT HUNGRY! It is not a matter of choice but more of a necessity. This is a dream that we have to have otherwise we are doomed to poverty for the next century. This is one of our greatest challenges. A challenge to our congressman, a challenge to our governor, mayors, the citizenry, thinkers, dreamers . A challenge to all.

I am reminded at this point of a remark made by one of those wise guys I borrow ideas from. He said, ‘I would rather attempt to do something great and fail, than to attempt to do nothing and succeed!’ Succeed in doing nothing. He also said, ‘In order for you to win you have to be in the game!’ We should definitely be IN THE GAME. No buts, no ifs.

Now, folks if I got you just a little excited about this concept, great! All of the above came from one positive, excited and enthusiastic mind. Can you imagine the output of two hundred thousand brains churning out ideas along the same positive direction? That would definitely bring tremendous results.

By the way, the company that builds the HVDCs have a branch office in Manila as well as many other branches around the world. They are indeed at our doorstep. If you have comments to make or questions to ask, please contact me at blackhawk74@yahoo.com. At any rate, let us start turning this dream into reality….together.

Joe Joson