DOE: 2015 power supply sufficient, but reserves thin

MANILA, Philippines - Luzon has sufficient electricity supply for the summer months of 2015, the Department of Energy (DOE) told the House of Representatives yesterday.

However, Irma Exconde, DOE director for power planning, told the House energy committee that “net reserve” would be thin for at least two weeks in March and would be negative for two weeks in April.

She presented Luzon’s “supply-demand outlook” during the first hearing of the committee on Resolution 1533, which directs the energy committee to inquire into the basis of President Aquino’s request for special authority to rent or buy generators from foreign suppliers through negotiated contracts, which could cost taxpayers up to P12 billion.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II are the authors of the resolution.

The DOE report prompted some members of the energy committee to say that the department failed to justify Aquino’s request for special contracting authority.

Some of them said they now have second thoughts about supporting the President’s request.

Reading from her report, Exconde said there would be enough “available capacity (less outages plus committed capacity)” for March to June next year, the period Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla earlier claimed there would have a supply shortage.

Petilla was conspicuously absent at the hearing.

In fact, Exconde said there would be a “gross reserve” for such four-month summer season.

However, she said “net reserve” (gross reserve minus required regulating reserve) would be short by 21 megawatts and by 31 MW for the first and second weeks of April.

The DOE report contains weekly forecasts on available generating capacity, peak demand, gross reserve and net reserve.

Available electricity for March would range from 9,059 MW to 9,296 MW, while peak demand was estimated at 8,110 MW to 8,480 MW.

For April, supply was projected at 8,888 MW to 10,178 MW, while consumption was forecast at 8,290 MW to 9,013 MW.

For May, available capacity was put at 10,199 MW to 10,497 MW, while demand was placed at 8,860 MW to 9,017 MW.

For June, available power was forecast at 10,086 MW to 10,176 MW. Consumption was estimated at 8,820 MW to 9,000 MW.

Besides the short supply for the first two weeks of April, reserve would be thin at 12 MW and 17 MW for the third and fourth weeks of March.

The DOE included in its report its projections for July, but these too show a net supply reserve and not a deficit.