More firms vow to help ease power crunch
More private companies have expressed their willingness to participate in the Department of Energy’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP), committing as much as 574 megawatts (MW) for the Luzon grid by 2015.
This represented the capacity that may be freed up by participating companies when they run their respective generator sets during specified periods.
According to the Energy department, 134 companies as of Nov. 28 have already signed up, 101 of which are retail electricity suppliers, while 33 are customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which can free up 391 MW and 183 MW, respectively.
“A growing number of commercial and industrial companies are heeding the DOE’s call to participate in the ILP—a demand side management solution … to help mitigate the projected power supply strain in the summer months of 2015. With this, the DOE, Senate and House of Representatives, together with Retail Electricity Suppliers Association and Meralco, sounded a clarion call … for big power users to take part in the ILP and help address the power supply situation,” the DOE said in a notice.
“Those that have signed up included ABC Development Corp. (TV 5), Ayala Land Inc., Chevron Philippines, Continental Temic Electronics, Cypress Manufacturing Ltd., Edsa Shangri-La Hotel and Resort, Lufthansa Technik Phils. Inc., Manila Peninsula Hotel Inc., Rockwell Land Corp., San Miguel Corp., Universal Robina Corp. and Century Properties group.
“It will be highly appreciated if the companies can express their commitment to ILP on or before Dec. 31 this year,” the DOE said.
The government is largely banking on the ILP to help ease the supply shortage expected in the summer of 2015.
Under the Interruptible Load Program, business customers that consume at least 1 megawatt may opt to run their own generator sets instead of drawing power from the grid.
It has been estimated that the reserves will fall short by about 300 to 1,000 MW next year, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said.
The department hopes that the ILP will be able to free up as much as 1,000 MW in capacity—a move that will greatly ease the expected supply crunch, Petilla said earlier this week.
Energy conservation measures, meanwhile, are only expected to contribute less than 100 megawatts, he added.
