THE Department of Energy (DOE) said there would be a low chance of power supply interruption from March to June this year, reaffirming the forecast of the Independent Energy Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
“With regards to the power situation for summer, and barring unforeseen events or interruptions, overall, we are in a much better situation this year than we were back in 2024 because we have several energy projects that have come online, not only for the generation side but also for the transmission side as well. In addition, this year is also a La Niña year despite elections. However, we are only as strong as our weakest link, and our weak links are everywhere, given we are an archipelago, and each of our islands has a different energy situation,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said in a media briefing.
He added that around 1,400 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity came online in 2024, increasing the reserve for the dry season in 2025.
“To note, Visayas is still very dependent on energy imports from both Luzon and Mindanao and generation sources are concentrated on certain parts. Meanwhile in Mindanao, we still have some excess capacity that we can export to both islands, and Luzon is operating as normal. However, we must also continue to grow generation capacity, together with the increase in demand every year,” Lotilla said
DOE data showed that Luzon would have an electricity demand of 14,769 MW; the Visayas, 3,111 MW; and Mindanao, 2,789 MW.
In December 2024, the IEMOP predicted that there would be no yellow and red alerts and a low chance of brownouts and blackouts for the dry season of 2025.
It added that random power supply interruptions could occur because of likely unplanned maintenance shutdowns of old power plants.
Be the first to comment