TeaM Energy energizes more barangays with solar panels

PAGBILAO, Quezon, Philippines — TeaM Energy Corp., a local joint venture between Japanese firms Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Marubeni Corp., has added six more isolated barangays to its list of newly-energized communities.

TeaM Energy Foundation Inc (TEFI), the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of TeaM Energy, in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Alliance for Sustainable Partnerships and Initiatives in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE), has completed the electrification of six barangays in off-grid areas using solar energy.

Three of the barangays are in Polilio Island off Quezon province (barangays Bonifacio, Mabini and Carlagan in Burdeos), while the other three are in Tawi-tawi (Tondon in Panglima Sugala, Sumangat in Bongao and Lookan in Sapa-sapa). Solar household systems (SHS) were installed in selected households

“It is our commitment to partner with the Department of Energy in working on its goal to achieve 90 percent household electrification by 2017. The electrification of these six barangays is a step in the right direction,” Team Energy president and CEO Federico Puno said.

He said TEFI’s efforts are aligned with the company’s commitment to continue to provide electricity even to those who are not connected to the grid.

“We are confident that the electrification of these six pilot barangays in Quezon and Tawi-tawi through solar energy will help improve the lives of people living in these areas and serve to accelerate the rural electrification program of the DOE,” he said.

DOE specifically committed funding support and technical assistance while TEFI committed to continually seek funding from various sources to be utilized for rural electrification.

Aspire president Rodrigo Cabrera, for his part, said their group will provide the technical assistance for the sustainable implementation of the solar electrification projects in pilot barangays. 

Ma. Teresa Lopez, executive director of TEFI, said they are also working to make the installed renewable energy systems more sustainable through effective community organizing and by providing the recipient communities with the needed skills and know-how to manage their renewable energy systems, applying lessons learned from Project BEACON.

“It’s not just about providing electricity. We are focusing as well on sustainability, empowering communities by engaging them in the planning process on utilizing electricity for the social and economic development of their communities, by organizing and teaching them how to manage their systems and by linking them with other institutions that can help them in pursuing economic opportunities appropriate for their community,” Lopez said.