The Department of Energy (DOE) said that the Marcos Jr. Administration ensured adequate energy supply amid challenges brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war and the increase of global coal and fuel prices.
“This is not withstanding the loss of 1,200 MW Ilijan power supply due to the expiration of its Malampaya gas supply agreement and the absence of alternative natural gas supply and in the Luzon grid,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said in a statement.
In his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned that eight generation facilities have become operational during the first year of his term. DOE said that this has increased the country’s installed capacity by 930.8 megawatts (MW), and the dependable capacity by 801.6 MW.
“On the other hand, the dependable capacity increased by 1,764 MW due to the return of the service of the Ilijan Power Plant, which dependable capacity was considered zero since June 2022,” DOE said.
Meanwhile, in line with the goal of increasing the renewable energy share in the power generation mix by 35% in 2030, and 50% by 2040, 126 RE contracts have been awarded by the DOE in the first year of the Marcos Administration. 72 of these contracts are solar, 30 are wind, 20 are hydro, 2 are biomass, one for ocean, and one for geothermal.
“Notwithstanding all these accomplishments, there is much more to be done and the energy sector is ready to take on the challenges cited by the President in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA)” Lotilla said.
The energy chief said that they will take a closer look at the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
DOE said that since 2009, the country’s transmission grid only grew by eight percent in terms of line expansion.
“We will make sure that grid connections, the needed highways for electricity, will be completed in a timely manner so that additional generation capacity will be delivered down to the distribution sector and ultimately to the household level. For this, we will make the NGCP accountable to complete all its deliverables including the vital Mindanao-Visayas and the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnections,” DOE said.
Moving forward, the DOE said it will keep a close eye on NGCP to ensure that transmission lines, related infrastructure, and the system impact studies (SIS) are implemented at a pace required by the country’s power needs.
Meanwhile, the DOE together with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will soon begin its official audit of the NGCP.