THE Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is pushing for more renewable energy facilities in this southernmost part of the country to keep with surging electricity demand driven by rapid growth of industries, real estate, services sector and agribusiness.
This was announced here by MinDA Assistant Secretary and Deputy Executive Director Romeo Montenegro to the stakeholders at the Water, Energy and Power Summit held on Tuesday, March 26, in Zamboanga City.
Montenegro said that Mindanao will require about 3,500 megawatts of new capacity between 2021-2030.
He said from supply shortfall resulting in long brownouts in 2011, Mindanao started having more than enough power by end of 2015 and currently it has supply excess following the entry of new power plants, but needing more by 2022.
However, he lamented that the entry of mostly coal-powered plants had resulted in the reversal of renewable energy-fossil energy mix.
He said Mindanao’s power energy mix in 2015 was 49 percent hydro, 14 percent coal, 31 percent oil-based and six percent geothermal, or 55 percent renewable energy and 45 percent fossil.
He said that in 2017, it was 49 percent coal, 29 percent hydro, 18 percent oil-based, three percent geothermal and one percent biomass or 67 percent fossil and 33 percent renewable energy. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)