TO prevent scarcity of electricity, the Visayas region needs new power plants by 2040.

During a power roadshow at Parklane International Hotel last Friday, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Redemptor Dedola said Visayas is in need of 9,180 megawatts of power.

At present, Dedola disclosed that there are already several power plant projects in the pipeline that can provide a total of 5,000 megawatts.

However, the agency said they are still waiting for more applications to build power plants in order to meet the remaining 4,000 megawatts of power needed.

Looking at the short term situation until 2020, Dedola said they already covered their needed power requirement because there are investors who committed to build some power plants.

Since it will take several years to build such facilities, Dedola said they are pursuing the construction of new power plants by next year.

He also said that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is working for the completion of the Visayas and Mindanao power interconnection in 2019 so consumers can avail of power supply from these two areas. (EOB)