MANILA, Philippines–As the summer months draw near, the Department of Energy is stepping up its campaign to get more companies to participate in the government’s Interruptible Load Program and be part of the solution to the looming power supply crunch this year.
Data from the DOE showed that the government had so far secured more than 700 megawatts, which represented the capacity that might be freed up by participating companies when they operate their respective generator sets during specified periods.
The three largest participants so far are SM Prime Holding Inc. (57.96 MW); Robinsons Land Corp. (23.15 MW), and Waltermart Malls (14.30 MW).
“In times like this, we need the collective effort and assistance of those who are willing to extend their hands … our search have never been in vain, in fact, ILP participants have been growing, reflecting the private sector’s role in this initiative,” said Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla.
According to the DOE, there are ongoing negotiations with other prospective participants.
The DOE targets to secure from participating companies at least 1,000 MW of capacity, which will serve as a comfortable buffer during the summer months this year. It was estimated that the shortage would be between 300MW and 1,000 MW.
The ILP is seen to serve as an immediate stop-gap measure to alleviate the power supply shortfall. Among those qualified to be part of ILP are big industrial and commercial customers that consume more than 1 MW and have the ability to produce their own electricity through generating sets.
Under this program, participating customers would allow distribution utilities to either cut off or reduce the electricity being supplied to them, particularly during peak periods of the day or during emergency conditions. During these hours, these customers are expected to use their own generators.