DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 05 July) — The power sector in Mindanao predicts a shortage in the supply of electricity in the next five years if there will be no new investors building new baseload power plants in the island.
Rodger Velasco, president of Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), told reporters on Friday, that the forecast took into consideration the rate at which the island’s power demand is growing.
“We feel that … we will now again be short of power in the next, probably in five years’ time or earlier, depending on how fast we grow,” he said.
The main powerhouse of the 24.9-megawatt Lake Mainit Hydroelectric Power Plant in Barangay Magdooc, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, during its inauguration on Wednesday (12 July 2023). It houses the three synchronous generators. MindaNews photo by IVY MARIE A. MANGADLAO
He said the demand for power in Mindanao has grown exponentially to an average of 2,100 megawatts (MW) compared with the pre-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic average between 1,500 MW and 1,600 MW.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the available generating capacity as of 1:00 p.m. of July 4 was estimated at 2,975 MW while its peak demand was at 2,394 MW, leaving a surplus of 591 MW.
“There is a shortage coming so together we should attract investors to put up their baseload plants – peaking plants and renewable energy plants – so that it can support the power needs of Mindanao,” he said.
He added that the industry stakeholders believe that there is a need to attract more power investors in Mindanao to construct new plants, including renewable energy, to meet the growing requirement of the island.
He said new investments are urgently needed to prevent the anticipated power shortage as the process to secure the permits from the regulatory government agencies will take two years while construction of a new plant will take about three years.
“The goal is to have new investors because if there are no new players, a shortage will really happen. For Davao Light, we cannot put up our own plant because we are prohibited under R.A. 9136 or EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act). What we can do is to attract investors …. to contract with willing investors,” he added.
He said the island needs “solid baseload” power plants.
He said a geothermal may be a good renewable baseload but added that it is “expensive and very risky to invest.”
“It’s very risky to invest (in geothermal) because you may dig up well but it may not be of good quality steam that can produce electricity,” he added.
He said there should be more power plants supplying electricity to Mindanao grid because it will bring down the cost of power in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) where market prices are influenced by law of supply and demand.
“If there are so many supplies, prices will be depressed but if there are so many demands but lower supply, prices will go up,” he added. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)