Town gets wind-powered cell site
by Charmaine Y. Rodriguez (12/30/07 at 11:25:49 PM)
PILAR, one of the four municipalities of the Camotes group of islands, could hardly cope with the pace of development of other towns in mainland Cebu, but it got a chance for a cleaner environment.
The town of 12,000 residents recently got a boost when wireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) rolled out its second wind-powered cellular site in the province. It's first one was set up in Malapascua in Daanbantayan.
"It's our contribution to the protection of the environment, the commitment to use renewable energy," Atty. Maria Jane Paredes, Smart Public affairs manager for the Visayas and Mindanao, said. "We are targeting 40 wind-powered sites nationwide by the end of the year."
Smart opened its service in the island five years ago and has recently partnered with Powercity Corp., an electrical supplies company, for a fresh and novel approach to telecommunications power.
"This is the latest innovation for a clean, environment-friendly, alternative energy supply," Wilson Teh, president of Powercity Corp., said.
Pilar, a five-hour pump boat ride from mainland Cebu, was energized in the 1990s through a diesel power plant that operates only at night. It is part of the Camotes Electric Cooperative.
The wind-powered cell site would offset the town's energy costs.
"Pilar will be saving nine drums of fuel a month," Teh said, adding that a wind-powered cellsite can help an area save more than P500,000 a year.
Pilar Mayor Dr. Jet Fernandez shares the green philosophy of Smart.
"I hope this is the start of a relationship. The island is both a watershed and a marine sanctuary," he says.
But the biggest contribution of the partnership would be increased communication in the island especially in times of inclement weather. "We would know if our loved ones have reached their destination safely," Fernandez says.
Tourism would also be greatly improved. "It would be easier to make room reservations," Fernandez added.
Camotes islands is visited by fierce winds twice a year.
Teh said that Camotes has between 2,000 megawatts and 3,000 megawatts of wind electric potential, even greater than the towns in Leyte and Samar.
"The Philippine has one of the richest sources of wind energy in the world." Teh added.
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