Mindanao power supply to stabilize in 2019

Mindanao power consumers will be assured of adequate power supply by 2019, when the grid’s system capacity is expected to hit more than 3,000 megawatts, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Tuesday.

Although this should be a welcome development for Mindanao, which has been battling with an energy crunch over the past several years, its consumers would have to pay a higher price for the adequate supply of power, PCCI regional governor for Southwestern Mindanao Rey Billena said in a briefing.

“Energy is not cheap. There is a cost to the development and generation of power supply. And for a long time, the government has been subsidizing (the cost of electricity in Mindanao),” Billena said.

According to Billena, Aboitiz Power Corp. has a 300-megawatt coal-fired power project in Davao del Sur, with the first phase of 150 MW to be delivered this year and the second 150 MW in 2015. The company, he added, was reportedly lining up an additional 300-MW facility.

The San Miguel group is putting up power facilities that can generate a total of 1,200 MW and Sarangani Energy Corp., 210 MW. The Filinvest group is set to put up power plants in Cagayan de Oro that can generate some 400 MW.

As of Tuesday, the Mindanao grid continued to suffer an 82-MW reserve deficit as the peak demand reached 1,326 MW while capacity stood at only 1,213 MW, data from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines showed.