DOE counts on 13,000MW committed power projects to ultimately solve wobbly power supply

The Department of Energy (DOE) is counting on the commercial fruition of roughly 13,000 megawatts (MW) of committed power projects for the country to ultimately get out from the ‘wobbly state’ of its electricity supply.

As explained, committed capacity would refer to projects that are already undergoing financial closing or ready for construction.

The department relayed to the House Committee on Energy that “on the supply side, there will be a total of 12,982 MW additional capacity which are classified as committed.”

It fleshed out that of the targeted projects, 8,232 MW or 62% are from renewable energy; then 510MW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) while the balance would be coming from other technologies.

Nevertheless, the development horizon of the planned capacities will be until 2040 - so that will take 16 more years of advancing these facilities on to the commercial stream.

Based on the estimates of the DOE, the peak demand growth for electricity usage in the country would hover at 7.0% within the stretch of the Marcos administration.

Beyond the specified shovel-ready projects, the energy department indicated that “the government looks forward to more private sector-initiated projects in renewable energy to be completed in the next six (6) years.”

On the recurring strained power supply in the country, the DOE stated that there is “continuous coordination” between and among relevant stakeholders in the industry.

And for private sector projects that are already taking off from drawing board, the department emphasized that “immediate approvals of permits/licenses” are being pursued “to have timely completion and commercial operation of the power generation and transmission projects.”

There are also measures and collaborative works on how different agencies could work on easing the impact of the El Niño phenomenon, not just on power supply but in other segments of the economy.

The DOE is similarly reviving the proposed ‘causer pays mechanism’ so that penalties could be enforced against industry players that will be established as the main trigger of power service interruptions.

The first public consultation on that propounded policy was carried out last May 7 this year; although previous discussions on it had also been done in the past administration.