As much as P68 billion in fresh investments is needed to construct more distribution facilities and to rehabilitate and upgrade existing ones to meet the projected increase in energy demand up to 2019.
Data from the recently released 2010-2019 Distribution Development Plan (DDP) showed that the bulk of the financial investments, estimated at about P21.3 billion, must be poured in for rehabilitation while another P18.4 billion should be used for electrification projects. Another P28.3 billion would be needed for the construction of new distribution lines and additional substation capacity.
According to the 10-year program, the projected amount can cover 26,565 circuit-kilometers (ckt-km) of lines that have been programmed for rehabilitation and/or upgrading, as well as the construction of 17,630 ckt-km of lines and an additional 5,232 megavolt ampere (MVA) substation capacity.
On a per-grid basis, Luzon distribution utilities will require 3,710 MVA additional substation capacity and 7,171 ckt-km of new distribution lines.
In the Visayas, distribution utilities must plan to rehabilitate 2,443 ckt-km of lines, extend coverage of distribution lines by 5,170 ckt-km, and construct new substation capacity of 848 MVA.
In Mindanao, developments in infrastructure requirements are focused on construction of 675 MVA substation capacity and 5,289 ckt-km of distribution lines, and rehabilitation of 2,656 ckt-km of lines.
The Department of Energy explained in the updated Distribution Development Plan that these investments are critical given the projected increase in peak demand of 4,258 megawatts to 13,113 MW in 2019 from 8,856 MW in 2009, representing an average growth of 4 percent annually.