GARIN (Tara Yap)
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Energy (DOE) is set to build a 200-megawatt (MW) solar battery system in the Visayas as part of its response mechanism to the low supply on the grid.
DOE Secretary Sharon Garin announced that the islands of Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol will each receive a 50-MW battery solar system.
Since May, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has placed the Visayas either on red or yellow alert due to outages of major power plants.
With the instability of power supply that is available for distribution on the Visayas grid, rotational power outages have been implemented, including Iloilo and the rest of Panay Island.
Garin explained the Visayas has to rely on submarine cables since there are different islands in the region.
She noted that Panay Island (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo) should be able to receive supply from power plants in the area to minimize the impact of power plant outages in other parts of the Visayas.
Garin is optimistic that Panay Island will have an additional 450 MW by 2030 when newer power plants can start generating power starting in 2028.