CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The city government announced that it is studying the viability of a one-megawatt solar power plant on top of the city’s biggest public market, the Cogon Market.
The Cogon Market building stands on a one-hectare land and its concrete roof may support a solar farm.
City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, chairman of the committee in economic enterprise, said the committee is studying the technical viability and structural integrity of the roof.
City Mayor Oscar Moreno lauded the tapping of potential renewable energy.
“I will support the project that will gain revenue benefits for the residents,” Moreno said.
Moreno also urged the CEED to provide orderly and clean market for sellers and buyers after the approval of additional funding as part of the Cogon Market rehabilitation program.
Nacaya said the proposal is still calendared at the plenary session but he felt confident that the project will prosper despite its very technical requirements.
He said that the Cagayan de Oro Power and Light Co. is providing technical support in determining the viability of the solar power plant.
Cepalco is the first power distribution company in the country to construct, maintain and operate a solar power plant, albeit at an experimental stage with just an MW of power.
“It can be done, it is viable, we have the technology, we have the experts,” Nacaya said.
He added that within the month, the proposed city resolution will be approved and the City Economic Enterprise Division will lead in the development of the study assisted by CEPALCO.
Nacaya added that once the resolution is approved, the study will be conducted until 2017.
He said the project cost was one of the items of the study.