DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 December) — Mindanao is expected to sustain a sufficient supply of electricity in 2023, an official of the Department of Energy (DOE)-Mindanao said.
Engr. Erick George D. Uy, science research specialist II of the Department of Energy (DOE)-Mindanao, said the whole island still enjoys an average actual reserve of 842 megawatts from January to December 15.
He told Kapihan sa Philippine information Agency (PIA)-Davao on Friday that the current power surplus will be sustained in Mindanao, whose installed capacity reached a total of 4,527 MW as of October 31.
With excess in supply, Uy added that Mindanao will not experience “yellow alert” or “red alert” status.
According to DOE, a yellow alert “indicates the thinning of power reserves in the grid” and is raised “when reserves fall below the capacity of the largest generating unit” while rotational brownouts may be experienced when “red alert” is raised.
He said peak demand in the Mindanao grid this year was recorded at 2,167 MW last June 1.
“When it comes to supply, our supply in Mindanao is enough. We expect the same scenario for 2023,” he added.
He said the current power structure of Mindanao is composed of 50.1% coal, 18.1% oil-based, 2.5% geothermal, 25.7% hydro, 1.7% biomass, and 1.9% solar.
He added that the agency recorded 35 projects committed for Mindanao, with a total additional capacity of 859 MW.
He said among the projects that will start commercial operations next year are the 11.04 MW oil-based power plant of Supreme Power Corporation in Mati City and 1 MW hydro power plant in Governor Generoso town, also in Davao Oriental, and 10 MW biomass in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)