Arroyo warns of power crisis in the Visayas

President Arroyo has warned of a looming electricity crisis in the Visayas by December this year if the power supply situation in this part of the country is not addressed immediately.

The President said studies conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other financial and technical advisers of the government showed that an additional 6,000 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity are needed over the next 10 years to avoid the recurrence of the power supply crisis that crippled the country in the 1990s.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, expressed concern that it would be difficult for the government to raise as much as P400 billion in order to meet this projected demand for power supply.

She raised the alarm the other day as she ceremonially switched on at Malacañang the $1.2-billion San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam, which aids not only flood control and irrigation in Northern Luzon but also serves as additional source of hydro-electricity.

Mrs. Arroyo cited the completion of the San Roque Dam as a "symbol of continuity," because it was a project started by former President Fidel Ramos, who was credited for solving the power supply crisis in the country.

"The San Roque project will take care of the supply requirement for Luzon which will continue to experience capacity surplus until 2007," she said.

However, she stressed that the country needs new capacities in Luzon to avoid a shortfall by 2008, saying the time to act is now as it takes a three-year lead time to build a power plant.

The President disclosed that she has already instructed Energy Secretary Vicente Perez "to prepare the groundwork now for the next administration to bid out the power-generating plants needed to avoid shortage."

Based on conservative estimates, the country’s annual energy demand growth forecast is 7.9 percent from 2003 to 2006, she said.