With $1.5 million funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Philippine government - with the Department of Energy (DOE) in the lead - has established a centralized energy command hub that will be primarily activated in times of disasters, power system failures as well as key events such as elections.

Dubbed as the Energy Sector Emergency Operations Center (ESEOC) and the Mobile Energy System (MES), the facilities had been inaugurated on Monday (April 15) by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin – and these are part of the $34 million endowment of the American government that had been funneled through the USAID for programs and transformative initiatives in the Philippine energy sector.

According to the DOE, these two projects that also have complementary funding from Europe are “designed to address the need for resilient energy infrastructure and response capabilities in times of crisis.”

Energy Secretary Raphael P. Lotilla stated that “as climate change escalates, extreme events will continue to come more often, even in greater intensity.”

Leaning on what climate science portends, the energy chief indicated that “investing in proactive measures that enhance resilience and ensure the continuity of essential services is crucial,” hence, he considers the USAID-supported project a “significant breakthrough.”

As emphasized, the ESEOC “is positioned to monitor, assess, and coordinate responses to various energy-related emergencies, including natural disasters, grid failures, and cyber security threats.”

The MES, which will comprise of solar solution with energy storage system as well as tools for the warranted data gathering work, will be supporting the operations of ESEOC.

“These modular systems incorporated renewable energy sources, energy storage, and microgrid technologies to provide reliable power generation and distribution in remote or disaster-stricken areas,” the DOE specified.

For that undertaking, the USAID turned over eight (8) solar-powered MES units to the DOE – and two of the solar units are stationed at the DOE; one of which will be used as back-up power source for ESEOC.

The remaining solar-powered systems will be distributed between June to August this year to relevant government agencies, including local government units.

The energy department also noted that “by leveraging real-time data analytics and predictive modeling, the ESEOC enables proactive decision-making and rapid deployment of resources to mitigate disruptions and safeguard critical infrastructure.”

Nevertheless, given that the command center will only be activated on specific events and power system circumstances, there is no direct pronouncement from the DOE how it can address data gaps, so it can guarantee the flow of reliable information that it can employ for data analytics or predictive modeling.

The DOE has not also specified the information technology (IT) and data management interfaces that it shall be undertaking with power industry players, so it can efficiently gather data sets that will underpin the establishment of credible algorithms for disaster response or even in delving deeper into the mysteries of power system failures in the country.