Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star)
- September 30, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department
of Energy (DOE) is coming up with a roadmap that will support the adoption of
smart grid technologies in the power sector.
The agency is currently working on
issuing a department circular and a roadmap for smart grid technologies,
DOE-Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB) director Mario Marasigan
said in an interview.
Marasigan said focused group
discussions and public consultations are being conducted for the said policy.
Through the focused group
discussions, the DOE got a glimpse of the development and adoption of smart
grid technologies by industry stakeholders from the generation, transmission
and distribution sectors.
“Not all players have the same level
of smart grid implementation. Based on our individual one-on-one with
stakeholders, some have already taken up smart grid,” Marasigan said.
Under the circular being drafted,
the DOE will not make smart grid technologies mandatory to power players but
will explore how the technologies can be accessed by stakeholders.
“It will not be mandatory yet since
smart grid happens from generation, transmission down to distribution. What
we’re going to do is lay down what the available technologies are in terms of
smart grid and how can they be accessed,” Marasigan said.
DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi
previously underscored the need to introduce smart grid technologies all over
the country because of their proven efficiency in significantly reducing
systems losses and other operational inefficiencies.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, the country’s largest business group, said the country should
also focus on smart grid programs, which will help power distributors improve
their system reliability and resilience to natural disasters.
The Japan International Cooperation
Agency recently partnered with the National Electrification Administration for
a two-year piloting of the smart grid technology in Batangas II Electric
Cooperative Inc. to start in the fourth quarter of the year.
Japan’s official development assistance arm said
the smart grid technology could be adopted by Philippine electric cooperatives
to improve their system reliability and resilience to natural disasters.
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