The Department of Energy (DOE) is not seeing any power supply deficit during the dry months despite the ongoing El Nino.
In a report by Manila Standard, DOE Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said that based on the department’s assessment, there is no forecast of a shortage in electricity supply. Additionally, the demand has not reached its projected peak demand this 2024.
Marasigan also mentioned that there is still a 200–500 MW supply margin in the Visayas and Mindanao and roughly 2,000 MW in Luzon.
Mindanao, meanwhile has excess capacity from supply. For the Visayas, there may be electricity shortages should the generation come from the island alone.
The assistant secretary added that the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) handed over around 450 MW of capacity to Visayas.
Moreover, with the success of the Cebu-Negros-Panay Transmission Stage 3, it would support the demand in Panay, with the capacity of the transmission line already at 400 MW from Cebu to Negros.
Beforehand, the energy department said that Luzon may experience yellow alerts in April and May as hydroelectric plants have been running below capacity level because of the El Nino phenomenon.
Marasigan also mentioned that during the dry months, power plants with a combined capacity of 300 MW are scheduled to become operational.
DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla encouraged stakeholders to manage the effects of the summer period and the El Nino to simultaneously maintain a sustainable and dependable supply of electricity while exercising caution when using it.
