Power, transport needs noted

Business World Online

Posted on August 11, 2013 11:11:04 PM

DAVAO CITY -- The government eyes an “effective demand forecasting system” to ensure stable power supply in Mindanao and will also undertake a multi-billion peso program to further enhance the trade and tourism potentials of the island, Cabinet officials said at the Mindanao Business Conference (MinBizCon) last Friday.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said on the second day of MinBizCon that the government is confident Mindanao will have sufficient power in 2015, but he cautioned against the possibility of oversupply of power if an effective forecasting system will not be in place.

“We need to be smarter in the way we actually forecast our demand,” Mr. Petilla said, stressing that the energy sector “has never really given importance to demand forecasting in the past years.”

“Demand forecasting is very important because it takes three to five years to build a plant. If we have power failures today, it will [still] take us three to five years to build a plant,” he said.

Mr. Petilla also said that annual demand forecasting is very challenging because of the “difficulty in understanding people’s behavior on electricity consumption.”

In his speech the previous day, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III had also criticized the lack of foresight for Mindanao’s energy demands.

Mr. Petilla noted that the government will step in if there are problems regarding the big-ticket projects committed to the island, to make sure these go on stream as scheduled in 2015.

These projects are the coal-fired power projects of Therma South, Inc. on the boundary of Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, and of Sarangani Energy Corp. in Maasim, Sarangani.

Therma South is constructing a 300-megawatt coal power plant, with the 150-MW first phase expected to go on stream in the third quarter of 2014.

Sarangani Energy is building a 200-MW power plant, with the 100-MW first phase planned to run in early 2015.

Meanwhile, Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Joseph E. A. Abaya said the agency has identified 46 seaports and 15 airports across Mindanao to undergo major facelifts until the end of the Aquino administration in 2016.

“A big challenge [for Mindanao] is how to move goods quickly in bulk and at a lesser cost so as to keep the price of doing business down,” Mr. Abaya said, also at MinBizCon.

The 46 ports for development are:

• Dipolog Feeder Port, Palid Wharf, Lawigan Port, Brgy. Baluno Port (Naga), Solar Port, Katipunan Port, Zamboanga Port and Dapitan Port in Zamboanga Peninsula;

• Kaputian Port, Lupon Port, Balingoan Port, Plaridel Port, Benoni Port, Cagayan de Oro Port, Iligan Port, Ozamiz Port and Balbagon Port in Northern Mindanao;

• Davao-Sasa Port, Babak Port, Mati Port, Maco Port and Tagpopongan Port in Davao Region.

• Batuganding Wharf, Mabila Port, Patuco Port, Kiamba Port and General Santos Port in Soccsksargen;

• Placer Port, Monserrat Port, Malimono Port, Gigaquit Port, Melgar Wharf, Ruben Ecleo Sr. Port, Nasipit Port, Aras-asan Port, Cantilan Port, Dapa Port, Jubang Port, Lipata Port, Surigao Port, Doña Helene Port, Masao Port and Pantukan Port in Caraga region;

• and Polloc Port and Jolo Port in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The DoTC’s Philippine Ports Authority will undertake the rehabilitation and expansion of these facilities.

The 15 airports in the DoTC’s rehabilitation or expansion project are in the cities of Dipolog, Pagadian, Zamboanga, Camiguin, Cagayan de Oro, Ozamiz, Davao, General Santos, Butuan, Surigao, and Cotabato, and in the towns of Del Carmen, Siargao; Jolo, Sulu; Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; and M’lang, Cotabato province.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, also under the DoTC, will undertake the airport project.

The DoTC chief also disclosed that the agency is seeking the development of the P56.5-billion Central Spine Roll-on, Roll-Off (RoRo) project, which would cut travel time over land and via ferries from Manila to Mindanao from two days to just 20 hours.

The project involves the construction and integration of a transport system combining RoRo ferry ports and toll roads to form a Manila-Panay-Negros-Cebu-Bohol-Northern-Mindanao route, Mr. Abaya said.

He also said that the DoTC is also pursuing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) RoRo initiative that will use regional sea lanes to enhance maritime connectivity in the 10-nation economic bloc.

The project involves a route between General Santos City and Bitung, Indonesia, with the possible inclusion of Davao City via a private port in Lanang district. -- R.S. Sarmiento   source