Approximately P 2.25 billion can be saved if the National Power Corporation will use hybrid technology solution to power remote areas, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
This was revealed in the studies undertaken by EU-funded Access to Sustainable Energy Program (EU-ASEP), which is known to pioneer hybridization solutions in certain islands in the country.
“Hybridization, in combination with properly maintained generator-sets (gensets) will enable NPC to save around P2.25 billion annually,” the energy department told Manila Bulletin.
The European Union (EU) through the ASEP has loaned more than P 3.0 billion ” “to assist the Philippine government in meeting the rural electrification targets through renewable energy and energy efficiency.”
Strategic advisor of the EU-ASEP Dr. Christoph Menke noted in their study that “there will be an estimated P 1.00/kWh cost reduction if NPC adopts a solar hybridization of its large-scale power plants.”
Menke said that ‘will help bring down the electricity bills of consumers.”
Menke explained that hybrid mini-grid is a combination of at least two different kinds of technologies for power generation and it can distribute power to many consumers through an independent grid.
This could come in the form of a mixed renewable energy resource to that of traditional power plant technology such as diesel gensets.
The huge savings will be experienced “if the RE share in power generation is at least 23 percent of the energy mix,” as the EU study emphasized.
