Davao power demand seen rising 30%

Davao Light and Power Co. sees peak electricity demand in its franchise area rising by as much as 30 percent in the next two to four years due to the boom in real estate, other businesses.

To prepare for this, the Aboitiz Power Corp.-led distributor has set aside P3.1 billion for capital expenditures to modernize its distribution system starting this year.

Davao Light said in a statement peak demand was likely to rise to 546 megawatts in 2023 from 421 MW in 2018.

The expected main drivers of such growth are real estate, universities, commercial complexes, and business process outsourcing offices.

The modernization program involves the construction of facilities including 424 megavolt amperes of additional capacity of its transformers, which will improve network efficiency and reliability.

The Davao-based utility is also set to string a total of 228 circuit kilometers of combined subtransmission and backbone distribution lines to reinforce the existing system.

The country’s third-largest privately owned electric utility, Davao Light, serves Davao City as well as Panabo City and the towns of Carmen, Dujali, and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.

“We expect to serve more customers from these industries this year, especially in light of the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build program,”’ Davao Light president and chief operating officer Rodger S. Velasco said.

Up to 2021, Davao Light expects to sign up new, high-demand customers including several residential buildings, a hotel, a business park, a multipurpose indoor arena, a factory, and schools.

For 2019 alone, the company will start delivering electricity to two manufacturers, a mall, a food complex, a business park, and real estate development.

Further, Davao Light expects its customer base to grow by one-fifth to 504,911 connections by 2023 from 404,574 in 2018.

In the same period, the company expects sales to jump to 3.14 million megawatt-hours from 2.47 mwh.