Visayas power demand, supply still recovering—DOE

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy is now working on estimates of electricity supply and demand in Visayas for the summer when demand for power will surge as more households and commercial establishments will be reconnected to the grid and consumers will need more electricity for their cooling appliances, according to Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla.

Electricity demand has remained relatively low in areas hard-hit by supertyphoon Yolanda, “especially regions 8 (Eastern Visayas) and 6 (Western Visayas),” Petilla said via text message.

Petilla considered the situation a bit of relief because some power suppliers and distributors in the Visayas were still down, as of Monday (Jan. 13).

Relatedly, in Palawan, another area hit by “Yolanda,” only the grid supplying Puerto Princesa has restored 24/7 power supply. The rest of the island-province has been relying on expensive diesel power, said Petilla.

On the Visayas grid, Petilla said, “The outlook for the day is around 1,319 MW with a 25-MW reserve. Geothermals are still running at 200MW or more as opposed to dependable capacity of 520MW.”

Overall, there seems to be enough electricity for now as many households, as well as commercial and industrial establishments, have not been rebuilt or repaired to the point of readiness to receive power.

In the Leyte-Samar area alone, peak electricity demand (one indicator of economic activity) is seen to drop. That is, from 45MW to just about 2MW. Certain areas, especially those far from the city-centers, may take years to recover, according to DOE.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) report on the impact of “Yolanda,” the private sector bore 90 percent of the total damage and loss wrought by the typhoon and the remaining 10 percent hit the public sector. The service and industry sector in the Visayas is comprised of retailing, trading, tourism, agriculture processing, manufacturing and a wide range of cottage and craft industries.

The combined share of service sector to gross domestic product in these areas was 11.7 percent in 2012, while the industrial sector contributed 12.2 percent, NEDA said.

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