Napocor wants bigger role in sale of off-grid power gens

MANILA, Philippines - State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) wants to be more active in the privatization of power generation in far-flung areas, an executive said.

Specifically, Napocor wants to use renewable energy technologies and buy electricity from the private power generators in off-grid areas.

Napocor and Philippine National Oil Co.-Renewables Corp. (PNOC-RC) are looking into signing a memorandum of understanding to explore “the possible adaptation of renewable energy technologies in the off-grid areas,” Napocor President Froilan Tampinco said.

The partners will study the feasibility of setting up green energy projects in far-flung areas.

Napocor’s unit Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 to undertake the electrification of remote baranggays and villages or areas not connected to the main transmission grid in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

There are 14 areas under SPUG -- which include Catanduanes, Romblon Siquijor, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan -- that are under review prior to privatization.

Tampinco said the companies want to replicate the success in Bantayan Island in Cebu and Masbate, Mindoro and Palawan.

“The big challenge of course is the area down south, in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” Tampinco said.

But in the Visayas, PNOC-RC and Napocor plan to put up renewable energy projects in Romblon, Catanduanes and Siquijor.

To date, the Philippines sources 35 percent its total power requirements from renewable energy sources like solar, geothermal, biomass, wind and hydropower.

Meanwhile, Napocor is set to be more active in the privatization of power generation in SPUG areas.

“We are waiting for the issuance of the latest Department of Energy circular,” Tampinco said.

“When we have negotiations, we tell them there may be a possibility in the future that we can be a direct offtaker [for the electricity output],” Tampinco said.

 Under the existing model, electric cooperatives are automatically the buyers of electricity generated in the SPUG.