MINDANAO’S power supply remained stable to address consumer demands, the Department of Energy- Mindanao assured on Monday.
During the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday, Engr. Rapha Julysses Perez, DOE Mindanao senior science research specialist, said the capacity is “more than enough” to leave a “substantial” reserve.
“We are supplying power to Visayas, that is the testament the supply for Mindanao is more than enough,” Perez said.
Since the Mindanao-Visayas interconnection point was energized earlier this year, he added the Philippine grid has been connected, and most of the time Mindanao supplies power to Luzon and Visayas.
The peak demand for Mindanao for the whole year reached 2,577 MW while its installed capacity is 4,614.5 MW with a dependable capacity of 4020.4. The reserves should not be less than 150 MW before the level goes into yellow alert.
However, Perez said if there’s no additional base load generating capacity, the supply count for Mindanao would be “alarming.”
“Our supply may be alarming and good for only three years, that is if there is no added generation and the trend of demand will continue to increase,” he stressed.
Perez assured there are indicative and committed power projects in the pipeline that are expected to rise within 2-3 years to address this matter
Indicative projects are in the process of pre-development stages including ongoing studies and securing of permits, while committed projects are those that arrived at the “point of no return” or are already undergoing construction.
As of October 1, for the committed projects in Mindanao, there is 258 MW installed/ rated capacity for renewable energy, 270 MW for coal, 56 MW for oil, and 220 for energy storage systems.
Meanwhile, for the indicative projects’ annual summary of target commercial operation (in MW), there is 120 for coal, 600 for oil-based, 2,275 for renewable energy, and 118 for energy storage systems with 20 mw tagged “to be determined.”
The period coverage of the indicative is from 2023-2035, including projects without firm commercial operations date and/ or beyond 2035 tagged “to be determined.”
