(The Philippine Star) | Updated December 5, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines –
The Department of Energy (DOE) is batting for a flexible energy mix based on
the country’s power requirements to foster competition as well as maintain an
adequate and reliable electricity supply.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi said the agency has formed an energy mix comprising of 70 percent baseload,
20 percent mid-merit and 10 percent peaking, instead of setting a cap per
technology.
Baseload power plants
can provide the minimum level of demand in a power grid over 24 hours while
mid-merit plants are those that can fill the gap between baseload and peaking
plants which run during peak hours.
“What we see is we want
it to be competitive so we’re not putting a quota per technology,” Energy
Secretary Alfonso Cusi said despite calls from the industry to come out with
energy mix policy soon to direct power developers to invest in specific
technologies.
Under such scenario,
each technology will compete with each other and therefore bring down the cost
of electrictiy, Cusi said.
This leaves the
decision to power developers on which technology they will be investing in as
long as they meet the country’s power requirements.
“We want an energy mix
where there will be competition so coal, gas, geothermal, hydropower or nuclear
can compete in that 70 percent baseload. They are going to compete with each other
and then you will really experience the CSP (competitive selection process)
aimed to lower power rates,” Cusi said.
Specifically for
baseload, this will ensure ample power supply for the country to prepare for
industrialization, the Energy chief said.
“We are also in a
situation that our energy supply is not that sufficient. We are still having an
intermittent supply. We are experiencing, yellow, red alerts and brownout. We
don’t like that so what the DOE is saying is we want power and we don’t care which
technology as long as it is meeting the standard that is required us,” Cusi
said.
Cusi has been
underscoring the importance of laying down a balanced energy mix policy between
fossil fuel and renewable energy sources tailored to support the country’s economic
requirements and development.
Cusi said the country
needs diversified energy sources to support our growing economy, requiring “to
build more baseload power plants while also aggressively pushing for clean
energy.”
The energy mix,
however, is not set in stone and can change overtime depending on the country’s
power needs.
“But of course, along
the way, that could change depending on technology development so they just
have to adjust,” Cusi said.
Under the Philippine
Energy Plan for 2016 to 2030, the Philippines is projected to have a demand and
reserve requirement of 30,189 MW by 2030. Of the total projection, 17,925 MW is
already installed while a little over 12,000 MW is still needed.
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