NGCP partners with UPLB to power villages with RE

Energy Department assessing renewable energy goals

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will work together with University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation Inc. (UPLBFI) in creating a program that will bring power to communities through renewable energy (RE).

Under its Green Spark Program, the two institutions will develop renewable technologies that will suit the specific needs of Barangay Macabud, Rodriguez, and Rizal, which remain unenergized. 

The planned development program aims to address the need for transportation and power source for the community, even during calamities.

NGCP recently gave the community one electric-integrated solar and wind charging station, one electric hand tractor with cargo trailer, and four electric tricycles, as reported in a BusinessMirror article.

The charging station will serve as a renewable source of electricity, while the tractor is seen to boost agricultural production, and the e-vehicles will address the need for transportation.

NGCP and UP recently implemented a strategy that would benefit marginalized sectors of its host communities with opportunities for self-reliance, focusing on skills training and livelihood programs.

Skills in bamboo and buri handicrafts; welding; sewing; baking; cooking; meat processing; food processing; cacao nursery; herbs, vegetables and ornamental plants gardening; micro poultry; bread making; clay pottery; vinegar making; and snack and dessert preparation were implemented under this program.

The NGCP-UP Skills Camp has served communities in Barangay San Gonzalo in Labrador, Pangasinan; Sampaloc 3 in Dasmariñas, Cavite; Nagtupacan in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur; Barangay 4 Quinale in Paete, Laguna; Hilusig in Mahaplag, Leyte; Bankas Heights in Toril, Davao City; and Balsik in Hermosa, Bataan.