Mindanao has about 800 megawatts (MW) of excess power capacity today, according to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), but by 2030 it will need additional capacity to serve the region’s increasing demand for power.
According to MinDA Deputy Executive Director Romeo Montenegro, Mindanao’s excess power is “time relative,” which “could be gone” in six or seven years from now.
“Prior to the pandemic, we were averaging 1,700 MW. At the height of the pandemic last year, we went down to as low as 1,500 MW. But today we have gone back to pre-Covid levels in terms of energy demand and, in fact, we are already hitting 2,000 MW.
So, the 1,000 MW excess we had two or three years ago, is already around only 800 MW today. By our calculation with the DOE [Department of Energy], at 7-percent annual growth demand, that excess will be gone by 2028 or 2027. Mindanao needs around 100 MW to 150 MW every year,” he said during last week’s webinar, “Mindanao as the energy hub in the country, Davao as a world-class corridor.”
While recognizing that the Davao Region has a huge potential to become a significant significant contributor to an energy-secure and power-independent Philippines, Montenegro said Mindanao needs an additional capacity of 3,500MW by 2030.
“In 2018, we counted around 40 high-end or vertical projects in Davao. These are mostly condominium that will probably be needing two to three MW to operate. If all of them in Davao alone shall have been operating, Davao Light and Co. would have to forecast the need to contract additional 80 to 120 MW to be able to serve the demand of these 40 condominium projects that are rising in Mindanao and this is just in Davao,” said Montenegro, adding that this trend is expected in all urban areas in Mindanao in the years to come.
Engr. Rodger S. Velasco, President and Chief Operating Officer of Davao Light & Power Company, recognized the need for investments in the Davao region as major industries continue to expand and develop in the area.
“I see the potential in investing in Davao for manufacturing,” he said during the webinar. “We have a number of huge energy-intensive customers looking to invest and build plants in the region. Davao is proving to be a very good area to invest in for energy.”
To hit 3,500MW, Montenegro said there is a need to shift to 50:50 balance energy mix from the current 70/30 level of fossil fuels to renewable energy (RE). Moreover, he said, transition to RE is policy-driven.
“We have to look at the 3,500 MW needed between now and 2030 should be coming from RE. We are looking at distributed generation as one approach where bite-size capacities can be embedded capacities of ECs (electric cooperatives) in Mindanao rather than the usual default mode of building a big power plant and be connected in the grid and distributed to ECs.”
Distributed generation systems may include solar photovoltaic panels, small wind turbines, natural-gas-fired fuel cells, emergency backup generators, usually fueled by gasoline or diesel fuel, among others.
