Zubiri warns of 'catastrophic blackouts' in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines – Former Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri has warned of “catastrophic blackouts” in Mindanao in the next five weeks, unless government moves fast to fix the island’s massive power supply deficit.

In a letter to Energy Secretary Jose Almendras, Zubiri expressed alarm over the current two-to four-hour daily blackouts in many parts of Mindanao.

The former senator said the situation “could worsen into power outages of up to eight hours by April, on account of increased demand associated with the summer season.”

To effectively address Mindanao’s power supply shortage, Zubiri recommended the temporary deployment of additional power barges to reinforce supply in affected areas in Mindanao.

He also pushed for the use of the renewable energy trust fund to grant incentives to entities prepared to install and deliver new biomass, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and/or ocean power supplies, exclusively for Mindanao, in six to 18 months.

In a press statement, Zubiri also saw the need for the energy sector’s retention in the Investment Priorities Plan of the Board of Investments, in order to attract fresh capital needed to quickly grow Mindanao’s power supply.

In his letter to Almendras, Zubiri said he was driven to offer his proposals because “the people of Mindanao find it increasingly burdensome to carry out our daily household and business activities, let alone grow our employment-generating industries, in light of the highly disruptive power outages.”

A report by the National Grid Corp. showed that as of Feb. 24, Mindanao has a deficit of 67 megawatts (MWs), based on available generating capacity of 1,159 MWs versus system peak demand of 1,226 MWs.

“However, references to menacing blackouts of up eight hours daily by April imply a real supply deficit of roughly 21.8 percent, or 268 MWs, without counting the 25 percent allowance required for Mindanao to enjoy gross power reserves that match those of Luzon and the Visayas,” Zubiri said.

Luzon has gross power reserves of 22.3 percent, or 1,456 MWs, with available capacity of 7,991 MWs versus system peak demand of 6,535 MWs.

The Visayas has gross power reserves of 27.8 percent, or 376 MWs, with available capacity of 1,727 MWs versus system peak demand of 1,351 MWs.

“Government may have to willfully encourage entities seeking to avail of Renewable Energy Law incentives to go to Mindanao, where there is a clear and urgent lack of reliable generating capacity, instead of installing their facilities in Luzon or the Visayas, which both have ample power supplies,” Zubiri said.

A native of Bukidnon, Zubiri is one-time chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, and author of the Renewable Energy Law of 2008.

Under the law, an initial P2 billion was provided to “support the development and operation of new renewable resources to improve their competitiveness in the market.”