The Department of Energy (DOE) aims to develop a strategic plan to accelerate the country’s total electrification within the first half of 2023.
In a report by the Philippine Star, DOE said that it will create a comprehensive national strategic plan called the National Total Electrification Roadmap (NTER) which will cover the various local total electrification roadmap and the distribution development plans that will speed up the total electrification in the nation.
The Philippine Energy Plan’s updated household electrification targets will be based on the NTER, which is anticipated to be released in the first half of 2023.
In light of the number of households in the nation that are still without electricity, particularly in Mindanao, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla previously stated that the DOE plans to speed up electrification nationally.
971,022 houses nationwide remain unserved as of June 2022, putting the nation’s electrification rate at 95.8 percent, according to the DOE.
Luzon has the greatest electrification rate, at 98.8%, followed by Visayas, at 97.2%, and lastly, Mindanao at 87.1%.
Providing access to energy in underserved communities continues to be the objective of the government.
Lotilla stated that the DOE is banking on the NEA to be the agency’s devoted partner in achieving the government’s aim of total electrification given the opportunities and challenges associated with energizing the remaining underserved areas of the country.
NEA is authorized to implement the country’s total electrification on an area coverage basis, with the 121 electric cooperatives as the implementing division.