Team Energy powers up 5,000 homes

Team Energy, a partnership between Japanese firms Marubeni Corp. and Tokyo Electric and Power Corp., has completed the electrification of 5,551 homes in one of the most remote regions in the country.

Together with the Department of Energy and the Quezon Electric Cooperative II, Team Energy said it was able to provide electricity to residences in the Polilio group of islands in Quezon province, spanning three municipalities and 17 barangays.

“Our joint effort with the DOE has led to the electrification, through solar power, of … households in what can be considered one of the hardest to reach places in the country,” said Team Energy president and CEO Federico E. Puno.

“We look forward to working with the DOE under the leadership of Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla in energizing more off-grid areas. We hope this contributes to the DOE’s target of achieving 90 percent household electrification by 2017.”

Team Energy’s rural electrification program is being implemented by Team Energy Foundation Inc. (TEFI), the energy firm’s social responsibility arm, through a program dubbed “Heart and Soul” (Household Electrification Assistance through Renewable Technology and Social Preparation for the Upliftment of Lives).

“Heart and Soul” aims to assist the DOE in conducting the final stretch of its electrification program in remote communities.

The energized areas are located in off-grid Polilio Island which is accessible by boat from the Quezon mainland during the dry summer months. Other times of the year, sea travel is deemed unsafe due to rough waters.