DOE to still uphold coal plant moratorium

The Department of Energy (DOE) is upholding the moratorium on the establishment of greenfield coal-fired power plants, even though hydro plants are running on derated capacities, which results in an inadequate supply that affects the main grids.

In a report by Business World, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said that the moratorium would still be upheld, and if liquefied natural gas (LNG) proves to have a stronger dependability, firms may consider it rather than building coal plants.

Lotilla continued, saying that while the country’s overall supply was forecast to increase by more than 4,000 megawatts (MW), the DOE saw no need to lift the moratorium at this time. 

In 2020, the DOE issued a moratorium for the development of new coal-fired power plants in order to ease the country’s dependence on coal. 

In a statement, the DOE said that they expected at least 4,164.92MW of projects, which comprised of 4,030 MW project in Luzon, 80.25 MW in Visayas, and 52.50 MW in Mindanao, to come online this year, which would help bolster the country’s power supply. 

Around 1, 224.655 MW is expected to be online by the second quarter, 1, 352.167 MW in the third, and 1, 571.154 MW at the end of the year. 

Last Thursday, a Yellow alert was issued in the Luzon and Visayas grids, and the energy department stressed that the alert will continue to plague the country’s main grids due to rising demand and the unanticipated increase in temperatures.

The power demand for Luzon on Thursday reached 13,941 MW, while the available capacity was at 14,568 MW,

The Visayas grid was also placed under yellow alert, as 670.8MW were unavailable to the grid.

DOE’s Electric Power Industry Management Bureau assistant director Luningning Baltazar said Luzon had already gone way past the projected peak demand for the year.

According to data revealed by the DOE, Luzon reached its peak demand of 14,016 MW on Wednesday as opposed to the projected peak demand of 13,917 MW this year. 

Meanwhile, the peak demand for Visayas reached  2,586 MW, while the projected demand was at 2,891 MW, and for Mindanao, the peak demand was at 2,534 MW, while the projected demand was at 2,584 MW. 

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara explained that yellow alerts and possibly red alerts would be expected until May.