Aquino: No more power shortage in Mindanao in 2015
FILE PHOTO
DAVAO CITY – If President Benigno Aquino III is right, Mindanao will not experience any more massive power outages next year.
Speaking at the Philippine Development Forum on Bangsamoro at the SMX Convention Center here last Thursday, President Aquino said Mindanao’s power generation capacity was on its way to full recovery and the island would attain power security ahead of Luzon.
He said based on the reports he got from government agencies, several major power plants will be operating in Mindanao in 2015, which will boost the region’s power generation capacity. These include the 300-megawatt coal-fired Therma South Energy Power Plant in Davao del Sur and the 200-MW Southern Mindanao Coal-Fired Power Plant in Sarangani.
“These two plants, among others, put us on track to have an energy surplus in Mindanao by 2015,” Aquino said.
The Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Power Company said Davao City would have adequate power supply when Therma South starts to operate in 2015. The company, the city’s sole power distributor, said it was also looking for additional sources to ensure the stability of power supply beyond 2015.
The National Grid Corp. of the Phils. said Mindanao was currently experiencing a surplus of power as generators, including hydro-operated ones, were functioning.
The NGCP said as of Saturday, Mindanao’s capacity was 1,376 megawatts against peak demand of 1,343 megawatts, or a surplus of 33 megawatts.
Early this year, various places in Mindanao suffered up to 10 hours of power outages each day due to repair work on major power plants and the decreasing water level of lakes and rivers feeding hydropower plants.
Mindanao businessmen had said they suffered tremendous losses in the wake of the power outages and demanded from the government immediate solution to the crisis.
Aquino said ensuring power supply stability in Mindanao was among the measures the government has taken to ensure that the economy of the island continues to grow.
He said the government, with the support of its foreign funding partners, has been investing large amounts of money in infrastructure projects.
The President said through the Department of Public Works and Highways alone, the government has shelled out P100 billion for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects in Mindanao between 2011 and 2014.
He said next year, the DPWH will also implement some P63.13 billion in infrastructure projects.
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