• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) stressed the need for power sufficiency each island, and for a balanced energy mix.
“NGCP long advocates for sufficiency per island because we cannot just rely on imports from other islands” since they also have their own energy requirements, Atty. Cynthia Perez-Alabanza, assistant vice president (AVP) and head of the Public Relations Department, said at the NGCP “Power 101” seminar this morning, Nov. 13, at a hotel in Bacolod City.
Alabanza added it is important that each island should have enough power for its own use, and that the energy mix is balance, “so as not to be vulnerable to fluctuations in a particular technology.”
It should not be all-solar, all-hydro, or all-coal, she said in the seminar attended by members of the local media and information officers. “Coal is stable but vulnerable to fluctuations in international coal prices; hydro is vulnerable to the weather, and solar is intermittent. A balance energy mix is important.”
In the case of Negros Island, Neil Martin Modina, AVP and head of the Visayas System Operations, said that power plants here have estimated generation of about 560 megawatts, 300MW of which from solar and the rest geothermal and diesel
“Negros’ demand is about 380MW. If solar is operating, you have reserve power, but at night, you’re importing from Cebu and Panay,” Modina disclosed.
Alabanza also stressed the need for a wholistic approach to developing the energy industry. “There has to be continuous effort at developing the three sectors – generation has to keep coming in, transmission has to keep building, and distribution needs to update and upgrade its own system.”
She said the continuous development of the energy industry should meet the increasing power demand of people. “Population will drive growth. We need to continue building power plants because if the rate of growth or demand exceeds the supply, you’ll end up with a chronic power deficiency.” | CGC
