Visayas power reserve seen to improve in 2011

BACOLOD City, Philippines – The Visayas is expected to have a positive power reserve by the second quarter of 2011 with the full operation of three new plants next year, an official of the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

Rey Maleza, supervisor of the DOE’s Energy Industry Management Division, said the new plants are those of the Panay Energy Development Corp. with 150 megawatts; Cebu Energy Development Corp. with 210 MW; and Kepco Salcon in Cebu with 200 MW.

Power rates, however, are expected to go up since there is a 15-percent economic growth in the Visayas this year alone, which means there is an increased demand for power, Maleza said.

Maleza and other DOE officials were here last Thursday for a media forum at the Planta Hotel in line with the celebration of National Energy Month, with the theme “Toward Energy Access for More Thorough Energy and Efficiency Conservation.”

The DOE appealed to local electric distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to buy power from independent power producers located within their areas, instead of getting it from faraway sources, to promote energy sufficiency and conservation.

Maleza said power bought from distant sources travels through the electric grid and is lost during transmission when the sources are far away from the distribution utilities.

He, however, said the DOE does not have any policies prohibiting distribution utilities from sourcing power from distant power producers.

Three electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental – Central Negros Electric Cooperative, VMC Rural Electric Service Cooperative, and the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative – are reportedly negotiating a power supply agreement with Kepco Salcon in Cebu after their contract with Green Core Geothermal Corp. expires this year.