By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated July 21, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – More private
sector investments in the power sector are needed as the Philippines sets its
sights on raising infrastructure development to service the basic needs of the
people throughout the Duterte administration.
The new administration has set a
gross domestic product (GDP) target of 6-7 percent in 2016, 6.5-7.5 percent in
2017 and 7-8 percent from 2018 to 2022, hinged on aggressive infrastructure
spending.
These growth projections will
translate to “higher growth for energy use specifically for electricity is
expected, entailing significant amount of investments mainly coming from the
private sector,” Department of Energy (DOE) OIC-Undersecretary Mylene Capongcol
said during the 4th Annual Philippines Power and Electricity Week yesterday.
Currently, the DOE is in the midst
of transition and evaluation, as what DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi had said.
“In this process, we will make sure
that the interest of the end-consumers and investors are balanced and that any
actions and policies implemented shall redound to better protection of public
interest and keeping and sustaining the robust pace of the country’s economic
growth,” Capongcol said.
In terms of new generation
capacities, DOE data showed Luzon will need 5,000 megawatts (MW), Visayas with
1,300 MW, and Mindanao with 900 MW until 2030.
To meet government’s goal of a
secured electricity supply, Capongcol said the agency is in collaboration with
the Climate Change Commission (CCC), National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in
crafting a sustainable national energy policy that will decide on the future of
coal power projects in the country.
“For now, we encourage power
generation using high efficient and innovative technologies to meet the
expected demand in electricity,” she said.
To attract new developments in
Mindanao, in particular, Capongcol said government is eyeing to put in place an
electricity market and to interconnect the grid with the Luzon and Visayas
grids.
“This is one of the priorities of
Secretary Cusi that the Mindanao grid would be connected to the Luzon-Visayas
grid during this administration to allow sharing of excess capacity among all
grids all over the country,” she said.
In January this year, the Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC) gave the go signal to National Grid Corp. of the
Philippines (NGCP) to conduct of a desktop study and hydrographic survey for
the western route of the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project (Cebu-Negros
to Zamboanga del Norte).
Capongcol also said the development
of renewable energy (RE) projects is also seen to continue as the DOE works on
policy mechanisms under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, namely the Renewable
Portfolio Standards (RPS), and the RE Market, where trading of certificates
will occur and compliance to RPS will be monitored.
“The implementation of RPS will
translate to higher demand for RE necessitating more RE capacities to be put
up. We will likewise study further if there is a need for another round of
installation targets for FIT or can we now make RE market-based without
prejudice to the need of the consumers of having affordable power rates,” she
said.
As the country pushes for a balanced
energy mix, the DOE official said it is necessary to have more investments in
exploring and developing potential areas amid the impending depletion of the
Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project.
“Another option is to enable the
importation of natural gas in the form of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) which
requires infrastructure to receive, store, re-gasify and transport the imported
LNG to the demand centers,” Capongcol said. Earlier, Cusi said there were
initial discussions with the World Bank to do a study through the International
Finance Corporation (IFC) on converting the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant (BNPP) into an LNG receiving and distribution center.
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