Saturday, August 21, 2004 Transco sees Minda power crisis in '06 By Raquel C. Bagnol
THERE is still an adequate reserve of power supply in Mindanao at present, but there is a looming power crisis towards the end of 2006 if nothing will be done to address the escalating demand which grows at an alarming rate of six percent a year.
Jules Alcantara, assistant vice president for Visayas and Mindanao operation and maintenance (O&M) of the National Transmission Corp. (Transco), told Sun.Star in an interview during the blessing and energization of Power Circuit breaker at Matanao Substation last week.
Mindanao's present power demand is 1,251 Megawatt, which, Alcantara said is much higher than what was initially projected, but by 2005-2013, Mindanao needs an additional 750 Megawatt power to supply its need and the six percent growth annually is very high.
"At least 75 percent of power generation originates from the North but Southern Mindanao consumes 47 percent of the total power consumption of the whole Mindanao, so Southern Mindanao needs to import power from the North," Alcantara said.
He said there is already a commitment for a 200-megawatt power plant to partially address the looming power demand from the Philippine Veterans Industrial Development Corporation.
"The Plant construction has already started and this is expected to be finished by the end of 2006, however, this 200 Megawatt will easily be consumed by the increased demand so there is a need to generate more resources to address the growing power demand," Alcantara added.
He said the lacking 500-megawatt could be sourced from private sectors and by linking to Visayas power plants.
He also said the economy growth and the population growth are contributing factors to the increasing power demand.
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