DoE assures power supply nationwide

By Jordeene B. Lagare – August 4, 2020
from The Manila Times

THE Department of Energy (DoE) assured the public of uninterrupted supply of electricity and petroleum products across the archipelago as Metro Manila and other parts of the country reverted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), its top official said on Monday.

“DoE will continue to work quietly to ensure uninterrupted supply of power and petroleum products in all parts of the country,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

On Sunday, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the reimposition of MECQ in Metro Manila as well as in the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan amid the increasing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections.
The will run from August 4 to 18.

Under this quarantine classification, mass transportation is prohibited and quarantine passes will be required. Only shuttle services, bikes and motorcycles will be allowed on the road while tricycles will be subjected to the guidelines of their respective local government units (LGUs).

Aside from that, the sectors that reopened during the general community quarantine will not be allowed to operate in the next 15 days. These include dine-in restaurants, barbershops, salons and recent additions such as gyms, review and testing centers, other personal grooming shops and internet cafes.

Amid limited movement due to the MECQ, Cusi said essential workers in the country’s energy sector will be able to continuously perform their respective duties.

“We will see to it that our industry backliners can also safely report to work to run the plant, the grids, the gas station and others,” he added.

As the metropolis goes back to MECQ, Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola said the Energy department will revisit its power outlook for this year as the agency now expects energy demand to remain at 2019 levels.

“We are looking at 2019 figures as the outlook for the rest of the year. It will go do lower depending on the quarantine status as we go along,” Delola said in a text message.

This year’s target, Delola said, has been revised several times since the coronavirus pandemic struck the country early this year.

“Actually, it has become a moving target. Since the situation is unprecedented, mahirap mag-establish (it is difficult to establish) the trend to come up with an outlook that will stick. We just revised and used new outlook beginning August but now, we have to revisit again our given the MECQ declaration,” he added.

In its 2019 Power Situation Report, the DoE reported total electricity sales and consumption grew by 6.3 percent to 106,041 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2019 from 99,765 GWh of the previous year.

Residential sector accounted for the largest consumption at 28.8 percent, followed by industrial (26.6 percent) and commercial (24 percent).

The industrial sector was the sole sector whose annual growth rate took a downswing from its rapid increase of 7.9 percent in 2018 but down to only 2.2 percent in 2019.

Electricity demand in the Philippines peaked at 15,581 megawatts (MW) in 2019, up by 5.4 percent from 14,782 MW in 2018.

The Luzon grid took the lion’s share at 11,344 MW. Peak demand in the Visayas and Mindanao reached 2,224 MW and 2,013 MW, respectively.