MANILA, Philippines—Power supply in the Luzon grid is expected to remain adequate until 2015, as the operations of existing power plants become more efficient.

“Many of the (National Power Corp.) plants are being privatized and those that have been privatized have become more efficient... so I think up to 2015 we won’t have any problem,” Manila Electric Co. president Jose P. de Jesus said.

According to De Jesus, the existing peak demand is 6,900 megawatts (MW) while there are varying estimates with respect to existing capacity ranging from about 8,900 MW to as much as 10,000 MW.

“So it’s probably somewhere in between,” he added.

De Jesus cited as an example the Pantabangan-Masiway hydropower plant complex, which has an output of about 90 MW and is now generating some 112 MW due to “small amount of investment” made by Energy Development Corp.

He said the Masinloc coal fired power plant in Zambales was able to optimize its operations resulting in an increase in capacity to more than 600 MW from an initial 300 MW, following its privatization, while GN Power may likely add another 600 MW to the grid once it starts commercial operations by 2012.

“First Gen Corp. is already thinking of putting up another gas power plant which will produce 500 MW of power, provided there is adequate supply of gas,” he added.

“If passed, the Enrile bills, which seek to lower the cost of power here, will stimulate more industries and more investments in power. With a reasonable and stable regulatory environment, the future looks OK,” De Jesus explained.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile authored Senate Bills 3147 or the Uniform Franchise Tax Act and 3148 or the Electricity Rate Reduction Act. These measures have the same goal of bringing down costs of electricity in the country by reducing government taxes and royalties on distribution utilities and power generation companies, respectively.