ILOILO CITY – Newly installed solar PVs that power up a provincial hospital, a legislative building, schools, an evacuation center, a fire station, and other public utilities have saved the municipalities of Pototan and Concepcion in Iloilo province up to P100,000 a month in electricity bills.

The renewable energy (RE) facilities have been installed as part of the Iloilo Provincial Renewable Energy Plan (I-PREP) with support from the Department of Energy (DOE) in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Support Facility for Renewable Energy (SF4RE) of the Development for Renewable Energy Applications Mainstreaming and Market Sustainability (DREAMS) Project.
The Iloilo provincial government showed the pathway among LGUs on how to invest in RE applications on the local level, passing an ordinance on RE called the Renewable Energy Ordinance of 2022 (I-PORE 2022) last September which mandates the establishment of infrastructure and mechanisms on RE.
This also encourages barangays, municipalities, and cities to identify and allocate possible sites for RE investments and provide incentives according to the Provincial Investment Code.
The flagship site is the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan where 75kW solar PV panels were installed on the rooftop of the 175-bed, Level 2 hospital. The Iloilo provincial government, assisted by the DREAMS Project, partnered with the Iloilo II Electric Cooperative to implement RE and augment the electricity supply of the hospital. The DREAMS Project promotes and facilitates the commercialization of renewable energy markets by removing barriers to investments in RE-based power generation projects.
Paz V. Calopiz, provincial government department head, said the power generated from the solar installations assures patients of electricity especially in areas where primary care and immediate treatment are being administered such as emergency rooms, the ICU section for critically ill patients, and other departments such as surgery and pediatrics.
“The solar installations cut down costs dramatically and increase the reliability of electricity for crucial health services,’’ Calopiz said.