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Posted on October 06, 2014 09:05:00 PM
THE PHILIPPINES will be crafting energy plans specific to each of its 17 regions, a move that will ensure power supply security all over the country, the Department of Energy (DoE) said.
Jesus T. Tamang, director of the department’s Energy Policy and Planning Bureau, said the government is pushing for a more specific planning up to the provincial level to maximize energy resources in specific areas.
The country originally has formulated the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the last of which covers years 2012 to 2030. The PEP serves as an integrated approach to the country’s energy supply and demand and set of activities to meet the country’s economic growth.
“We are currently updating the supply and demand outlook since the major plans and programs are the same. But we want a more effective monitoring and implementation to see what needs adjustments or recalibration,” Mr. Tamang said in an interview last week.
Of the country’s 17 regions, eight are in Luzon, three are in the Visayas, and six are in Mindanao.
“We want to see all the details of the requirements and the specific development plans for the each region,” Mr. Tamang said.
He said that the regional energy plans also consider specific provinces like Palawan and Mindoro -- which are both working on their own power development plants.
“These regional energy plans will not only benefit regions but the specific provinces as well,” he said.
As an example, the official cited Palawan given the province’s particular requirements for power generation.
“In Palawan, we need to put up plants to support growth but we also want to maintain the pristine environment so we have some considerations like that. Palawan would not go for polluting power resources,” Mr. Tamang explained.
He added that Mindoro will also have its own plan, which is expected to be completed by next year.
“Also, since we started with Palawan and Mindoro, we will do the rest of Mimaropa,” he said, referring to the region known for island provinces such as Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan.
The official emphasized that careful energy planning and strategies are essential to secure growing industries in the provinces and stir them towards progress.
He added that the undertaking would raise the importance of energy planning in fulfilling the growing power needs across the country.
In a related report, Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-largest island, should prepare to connect to the country’s power grid, a move that will allow it to source and provide its energy needs to and from Luzon and the Visayas, an official of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said in Davao.
With at least 1,000 megawatts (MW) of additional electricity coming online by the end of 2015 plus the potential from several other pending proposals, “it will be ripe for Mindanao to participate in the wholesale market because while it will have excess, Luzon will be in need for more power suppliers,” Romeo M. Montenegro, MinDA public affairs director and head of the technical working group of the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee said.
Once connected, Mindanao’s energy producers will also be able to buy and sell power on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), giving it the option to source from other generating companies should demand again exceed supply in the future, Mr. Montenegro said.
As of yesterday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) power outlook situation indicates reserves of 2,736 MW for Luzon, 160 MW in the Visayas, and 44 MW in Mindanao. The NGCP runs the country’s grid that connects Luzon and the Visayas.
Mr. Montenegro said the NGCP is now looking into alternative sites for the interconnection of the Mindanao grid with the Visayas.
Initial sites identified between the provinces of Leyte in the Visayas and Surigao del Sur in Mindanao have been deemed expensive and difficult as the infrastructure will have to pass through the Philippine Deep, one of the deepest points in the world at a depth of about 10,540 meters.
However, the interconnection plan has been opposed by several sectors, among them the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Mindanao, saying that the interconnection will result in higher power rates for Mindanao.
Mindanao has lower electricity rates than Luzon and the Visayas since it gets cheaper power from hydro plants that provide more than half the island’s supply. June data from the National Power Corp. (Napocor) show rates averaged P2.97 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) in Mindanao, P4.57/kWh in the Visayas and P5.72/kWh in Luzon.
For the Small Power Utilities Group -- the National Power Corp. segment that covers remote areas, many of them are islands -- outside the country’s main grid -- rates averaged P4.8/kWh in Mindanao and P5.6/kWh in Luzon and the Visayas.
Among the committed power projects that are expected to start commercial operations are the 300-MW coal-fired power plant of Therma South, Inc.; 200-MW coal-fired units of the power plant of Sarangani Energy Corp. in Maasim, Sarangani; 300-MW project of San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp. in Malita, Davao del Sur; 100-MW coal-fired power plant of San Ramon Power, Inc. in Zamboanga City; and several hydroelectric plants in Bukidnon and Agusan del Norte.
INTERIM MARKET
Meanwhile, Mr. Montenegro also said the suspended Interim Mindanao Electricity Market is set to become obsolete with sufficient supply by next year.
“The temporary market is a time relative measure like the modular generator set program because these measures are intended to plug the gap in the power supply and demand,” said Mr. Montenegro.
Implemented in December last year, the interim market was suspended when Mindanao went into total blackout on Feb. 27 after one of the plants of the Steag State Power, Inc. suffered a major breakdown.
As repairs were being undertaken, the Energy Regulatory Commission reduced the power rate cap from P64 to P32.
Nonetheless, the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives has sought that the implementation of the interim market be more transparent, particularly how much power is available. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano and Carmelito Q. Francisco source
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