A TOTAL of 260 Renewable Energy (RE) projects are being monitored and facilitated by One-Stop Facilitation and Monitoring Center (OSFMC) of Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) resulting to 3,512.2 megawatts (MW) potential capacity available by 2020.
This data is as of June 2016.
Romeo Montenegro, Minda director for promotions, investments and public affairs, said that all these pending projects are expected to complete necessary permits within 2016.
The technology spread of the 260 RE projects is dominated by 211 Hydro power projects or 81 percent of the total RE projects with a combined potential capacity of 2,152.412 MW followed by 33 Solar projects (967.91 MW potential capacity), 10 Biomass projects (122.4 MW potential capacity) and 6 geothermal (278.48 MW potential capacity).
On its regional spread, bulk of the RE projects will be poured to region 10 with a total of 80 pending RE project with a combined 1,348 MW potential capacity followed by Soccsksargen having 38 project with combined capacity of 726.05 MW.
Davao Region came third with also 80 projects but with lesser combined capacity of 716.4 MW.
Zamboanga Peninsula will have a share of four RE projects, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) and Caraga Region with both eight projects each.
Montenegro said that power energy mix should be 50-50 balanced with RE and fossil fuels.
"We are facilitating and assisting investor of RE as well, so that investors be more interested to pursue renewable energy projects to achieve the 50-50 power mix," he said.
At present the OSFMC, an initiative of Minda has been replicated nationwide through Energy Virtual One Shared System (Evoss).
He also added that construction of new power projects in Mindanao should start by 2018, earlier than the current plan of 2020, in a bid to meet an anticipated surge in investments here as reflected by the reports of the Board of Investments-Mindanao.
Montenegro said that without an adjustment in the target roll-out period, Mindanao could again face tight supply by 2022 as experienced in the past five years.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE) data, Mindanao is requiring at least 1000MW of new capacity by 2020, and 1,600MW by 2030. At present power demand on the island is 1,400MW with current power supply of 1,200MW.
In the past years, some of the new power plants in the island include the 300MW plant of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s Therma South, Inc. in Davao City and Davao del Sur; 210MW from the Alcantara-controlled Sarangani Energy Corp. plant in Sarangani province; San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp.’s 300MW plant in Malita, Davao Occidental; the 552MW GN Power Kauswagan Ltd. Co. , a partnership between Ayala Corp.’s AC Energy Holdings, Inc. and Power Partners Ltd. Co., in Lanao del Norte; and 405 MW from Filinvest Development Corp.’s thermal power plant at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental.
Montenegro described that the “ideal power scenario” is to maintain at least an equal amount of power generated by the biggest single power plant operating. In Mindanao TSI (one unit) with 150 MW capacity is the largest plant in operations.
The reserve, he said, “should be available at any given time” in case plants break down. (ASP)
