9,180 MW needed in Central Visayas

SIQUIJOR - Central Visayas will need an additional 9,180 megawatt (MW) to ensure stable supply of electricity until 2040, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported Friday, June 21, 2019.

In a report during the Regional Development Council (RDC) Central Visayas full council meeting here, DOE Acting Director J. Rey Maleza of the Visayas field office said that, as of Dec. 31, 2018, the committed projects will generate a total of 765.9 MW of additional supply.

There are also indicative projects, or those undergoing process and negotiations, that are expected to generate 3,903.4 MW more.

To reach the projected 9,180 MW to stabilize supply until 2040, the Visayas will still need 4,510.7 MW additional power capacity to meet demand brought about by economic growth in the region, Maleza said.

“We conducted an investment forum last month to try to lure investors to supply this 4,510.7 MW for the construction of power plants in the Visayas. But the problem in coming up with possible investments is on the permits and licenses in putting up baseload power plants. There are now four provinces that declared they don’t want coal-fired power plants in their area, so we need another type of baseload power plant, which is very limited as of this moment,” Maleza said.

At present, 47 percent of gross power generation is from coal plants.

Since March, Maleza said Visayas has been experiencing low supply because of the low output of the geothermal power plant and some preventive maintenance service issues.

Last Thursday, June 20, power supply in the Visayas was raised to red alert status from 7 p.m. since demand reached 2,082 MW while supply was only 2,014 MW. A red alert means no back-up power and this may result in outages.

In the afternoon, the Visayas was placed on yellow alert when demand reached 2,194 MW and capacity was 2,238 MW. Yellow alert means there is low supply but no outages yet.

RDC Central Visayas chairman Kenneth Cobonpue said the Cebu-Panay-Negros and Cebu-Bohol power interconnection projects have been declared by the DOE as energy projects of national significance.

The declaration will hasten the processes and implementation of the projects, he added. (RVC)

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