By Lenie Lectura- March 1, 2019
THE Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco) will soon provide electricity to a remote island in Quezon
province after it secured board approval to deploy a microgrid system composed
of a solar PV-battery-diesel hybrid.
The Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) defines microgrid as a localized grouping of distributed energy sources,
loads and storage mechanism that can operate both as part of the central grid
or independently as an island.
“We just got approval from the
board. We already have a hybrid solution with solar panels, batteries and
gensets,” Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said.
The Meralco official said the plan,
subject to the approval of the ERC, is for Meralco to install a total of 2.5
megawatts of solar power capacity, combined with battery-energy storage of up
to 4.2 MW and diesel-run generating set of 1.9 MW. The rollout will be
done in phases.
Initially, 1.4 MW of solar panels
will be installed. Meralco will also deploy a 2.1-MW lithium-ion battery for an
energy-storage system and a 1-MW power-generating set that runs on diesel.
“The commercial operation date is
end 2019 for the first phase, which will serve 600 households and 10 resorts
then we build it up until 2024. It’s a five-year development because there will
be resorts to be built there,” Panlilio said. Meralco is expected to
provide electricity to 160,000 households upon completion of the five-year
rollout. The rates that will be charged to consumers are relatively cheaper by
half.
“Much cheaper than what they are
paying now. Maybe, P20 to P22 per kilowatt-hour. It’s a very good
solution to address power in Cagbalete. Power in Cagbalete Island is not
24 hours that’s why we opted for hybrid solution composed of solar, battery and
genset. Eventually, a few years down the road, when battery storage is cheaper,
you might be able to phase out gensets to provide more storage,” Panlilio said.
Meralco would need to seek approval
from the ERC to implement the hybrid solution and charge rates accordingly. The
utility firm is expected to file its application next week.
Meralco utility economics head
Lawrence Fernandez said separately the company has a pilot microgrid project in
the same island.
“Yes, this is different. What we
have now is the pilot project. The board discussion is for the planned
expansion, but also in Cagbalete Island,” Fernandez said.
Under the pilot microgrid project,
Meralco will install a 60-kWp solar PV as the main power plant, paired with a
150-kWh lithium-ion battery energy-storage system that will charge during the
day and provide electricity at night.
Also, there are two units of 30 kW
diesel generators for peak demand support during early evenings. Only one is
planned to operate at a time with the other serving as a backup.
“Meralco has a pilot microgrid
project, with the generation component composed of a solar PV-battery-diesel
hybrid. The hybrid power plant will utilize a centralized microgid controller
for balancing and operating the whole system. It will serve about 200 homes
that currently do not have 24/7 electric service. There is an estimated 800
households on the island,” Fernandez said.
Meralco is also looking at providing
a similar microgrid system in Palawan and Iloilo City.
Panlilio also said the Ayala group
has asked Meralco if it can provide electricity in Lio Villas Resort in Palawan
and a resort in Sicogon Island, Iloilo.
“Ayala has been talking to us for an
underserved area for Palawan. They are asking us to look at Lio Resorts and
Sicogon. Talks are still in the early stage. They are asking us whether we
could have a solution for that so we are doing surveys and checking what is the
requirement.
Ayala’s properties might be the same
size of Cagbalete because these are prime areas for resorts. I would think
without looking at the numbers yet, they would be bigger than Cagbalete,”
Panlilio said.
No comments:
Post a Comment