Power supply deal to ease Occidental Mindoro blackouts

MANILA, Philippines — The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has entered into an agreement with Power Systems Inc. (PSI) to provide additional power supply to residents of Occidental Mindoro starting April 29.

NEA said PSI agreed to operate its diesel power plant in San Jose town, which has a capacity of five to six megawatts (MW).

NEA said this would give residents roughly six to eight hours of electricity per day.

Based on the agreement, NEA will contract PSI for two months as a form of subsidy from the national government.

“NEA will cover the cost of operation for the first two months. That is the help we’ll get from the national government,” NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said.

Occidental Mindoro has been placed under a state of calamity due to 20-hour daily power outages for more than a month now.

Aside from leasing the PSI power plant, NEA said other measures are being undertaken to resolve the power crisis in the province.

Almeda said DMCI Power Corp. has been requested to supply power to the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc. after the Department of Energy issued a certificate of exemption from the conduct of the competitive selection process for the procurement of a 17-MW emergency power supply agreement.

NEA said two diesel generator sets would also be shipped to supply additional electricity to hospitals and schools.

Two diesel generator sets procured for the Mindanao power crisis in 2013 are also on standby.