Ample power supply assured for Visayas

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The Department of Energy-Visayas Field Office (DOE-VFO) had assured the public that there is enough supply of electricity in the Visayas to meet the requirements of the region.

Engineer Keelvin Dajao, science research specialist 2 of the DOE-VFO, on Wednesday said the region’s power outlook in 2018 is stable, with supply and capacity more than enough to meet the demand.

Dajao was among the speakers invited to the “Kapihan sa PIA Forum” held at a local hotel in Dumaguete City to talk about the power situation outlook for this year.

In an interview, he disclosed that the average demand for electricity in the Visayas was 1,700 megaWatt to 1,800MW although this varies every so often.

The region had a power supply of 2,300 MW while its generating capacity was pegged at 2,100MW with a little excess at times, Dajao said.

Luzon exports 300MW to the Visayas especially during peak hours to ensure a steady power transmission, he said. “We can serve the demand because of ongoing projects in the Visayas, and if the region is lacking in power, there is back up from the Luzon grid where we are connected.”

Dajao said the power plants in Leyte that were destroyed during the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit the island and other parts of the region on July 6, 2017, were almost fully restored. He said the DOE expected that these power plants would be fully operational by the end of this year.

Asked whether the lack of infrastructure from the grid had impacted on the power situation in the Visayas, Dajao admitted that this was actually one of their “biggest challenges.”

The transmission grid is the “highway” of power and if it was lacking in infrastructure facilities, it was useless despite having an excess power supply that could not be delivered to the end users, he pointed out.

For now, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) was undertaking a project dubbed CNP (Cebu-Negros-Panay) Interconnection project that was expected to be completed and operational by 2022 or thereafter, Dajao said.

This was the Visayas backbone project that would see a strong and reliable transmission grid from Iloilo to northern Negros and onward to a portion of Western Cebu, he said, but assured the public that the lack of transmission grid services has minimal impact on the power supply in the Visayas. (FREEMAN)