March 15, 2018 | 9:48 pm By Victor V. Saulon
THE Energy department
expects 8,618.36 megawatts (MW) of power generating capacity to be added to the
power grid between January 2018 and the end of 2025, majority of which will
come from coal-fired power plants.
The estimate was
contained in the department’s assessment of committed projects as of December
2017.
The Department of
Energy expects Luzon to account for about 75.5% of the new capacity from
committed projects, or those that have reported financial closing and are in
various stages of development and securing permits.
The Visayas and
Mindanao are expected to account for 9% and 15.5%, respectively.
Coal will remain the
dominant source of power with an expected addition of 6,325 MW. Hydroelectric
power is a distant second with 1,133.5 MW, followed by biomass with 240.46 MW.
Despite the vaunted
abundance of solar power, it is expected to account for only 92.86 MW of future
capacity. New wind capacity was at zero in the DoE’s latest report.
Natural gas-fired power
plants are expected to contribute 650 MW, while geothermal plants are seen to
provide 93 MW.
The earliest to come
online is Pagbilao Energy Corp.’s 420 MW coal-fired power plant in Quezon
province. The power plant had its testing and commissioning set for August
2017, with target commercial operation date in January.
Among the big power
plants to become operational this year is the 300-MW phase two of SMC
Consolidated Power Corp.’s Limay power plant project in Bataan province.
Energy World Corp.’s
650-MW, three-unit combined cycle gas-fired power plant is expected to undergo
testing and commissioning between June and December this year.
As of end-2017, the
Philippines had a total installed capacity of 22,728 MW, of which coal
accounted for 35.4%.
Coal-fired power plants
had a total installed capacity of 8,049 MW. Renewable energy sources followed
closely at 7,079 MW or 31.1% of the total, although taken individually only
hydroelectric power plants posted a double-digit share of the total at 16% or
3,627 MW.
Oil-based energy
sources made up 18.3% of the dependable capacity at 4,153 MW. Natural gas had a
share of 15.2% or 3,447 MW as of end-2017.
The latest DoE data
show coal power plants’ share to have expanded from 34.6% in 2016. The share of
oil-based plants also increased from 16.9%, the DoE report for 2016 shows. The
country imports most of its oil and coal requirements.
In contrast, the share
of renewables contracted from 32.5%, while that of natural gas also declined
from 16%.
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