WITH around 800 megawatts (MW) of excess capacity, the Department of Energy (DOE) assured there will be sufficient power supply in Mindanao despite the growing demand and the mild El Niño conditions.
Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola told Sunstar Davao that they are not expecting any power problem to occur even with El Niño and during the summer months because Mindanao has enough reserves.
“During summer, we expect it (power supply) to reduce due to El Niño, but even with that, we do not expect any problems because we still have a substantial amount of excess capacity until 2020,” Delola said.
He also revealed that there will be more power plants that will be constructed in Mindanao this year. These are expected to be completed before 2021, when demand is projected to surpass supply.
At the Mindanao Energy Investment Forum (MEIF) on Wednesday, April 3, at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Lanang, Davao City, government encouraged more investors to invest in Mindanao.
“Our promotion for investments in Mindanao is not just geared towards power. We also have investments on exploration of oil in other areas so we have to continue delivering the message that there are investments that can be put in Mindanao,” Delola said.
“There are a lot of areas in Mindanao that you can nominate if you want to explore like coal exploration, oil exploration, not just power,” he said, adding that it just so happened that most of the concerns are power related.
Demand for power is forecast to reach 2,300 MW this year while supply is estimated at 3,000 MW.
“By next year, we expect around 1,000 MW of excess power which is very big already,” he said.
“But if we do not invest now, there will come a time na hahabol ang demand sa supply, doon na magkakaroon ng problema. So as early as now, we promote those na papasok na investments,” Delola said.