The Department of Energy (DOE) has indicated that it will be revising the Philippines’ power supply-demand forecasts for this year
DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi noted that this month the Luzon grid has already been reaching a peak demand of 9,000 MW mainly due to higher temperatures as it is the summer season.
Cusi added that it is expected to rise to 12,000 MW once the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) is lifted or eased.
“Aside from making sure that we have enough supply, we also see an increase in demand when we lift the quarantine,” Cusi was quoted in a report.
The department is still collecting data to base the amendments that will be done in the supply-demand projections in the power sector, energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola explained.
Delola, however, admitted that they are still constrained by data flow, particularly from the sphere of distribution utilities (DUs) as most of them still have to conduct actual meter readings during the ECQ period from mid-March to May.
Delola added that consumption was seen to change a bit to residential end-uses as most commercial establishments and industries had been closed during the lockdown period.
“What happened during the pandemic was that: The residential consumption went up, but it was not able to compensate for the drop in commercial and industrial sectors’ usage,” Delola said.
He cited that the supply-demand picture in Visayas and Mindanao are different compared to the Luzon grid. The consumption in the Visayas and Mindanao grids had always been higher.
“We’re looking at per industry movement, but we don’t have data yet from the distribution utilities like Meralco (Manila Electric Company) because they have not done meter reading yet during the ECQ,” Delola said.
