Manila Times.net
Aboitiz Power Corp. (AP) has firmed up plans to put up a coal-fired plant in Davao to help diversify supply in electricity-starved Mindanao. “Mindanao’s heavy dependence on hydropower has seriously eroded power supply reliability as it is highly vulnerable to weather conditions. Generating power with the use of coal will significantly reduce our dependence on hydropower,” Erramon Aboitiz, AP president and chief executive, said.
More than half of Mindanao’s power supply is generated by state-owned National Power Corp.’s Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex. The prolonged dry spell at the start of the year, however, cut its output.
Besides the weather-induced power deficiency, the region’s growing demand is also projected to push up its electricity requirements in the near future.
The shortfall between power supply and demand in the region from 2010 to 2014 is estimated to reach 484 megawatts, about half of its nearly 1000-megawatt daily requirement.
Apart from the 42.5–megawatt Sibulan hydropower plant that AP recently inaugurated, other proposed plants in Mindanao have yet to be put up.
EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO
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