DOE: Power supply adequate during dry season despite El Niño

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday said the country’s power supply during the dry months, when demand usually goes up, is adequate despite the threat of El Niño that would render hydroelectric power plants unavailable.

“As we said, there is right now adequate supply but we will continuously monitor. For example, the dams… at the start of this period, they had very… Well, they had good and adequate water supply. But we’ve also had to limit the use for power because the agriculture sector has had an increased need for irrigation,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla told reporters on the sidelines of the DOE’s business matching event in Taguig City.

In December last year, the Energy Department projected that the generation capacity of hydroelectric power plants is expected to be reduced by as much as 70%, especially in the Luzon and Visayas grids where large hydropower generation facilities are located.

Despite reduced capacity hydroelectric power plants, Lotilla said the Philippines is more prepared compared to El Niño compared to past years.

“So, with the natural gas power plants and the reception facilities now in place, we are actually much better off now to cope with the El Niño than before,” the Energy chief said.

“Let’s continue to work on energy efficiency and conservation. Because that would really help us in addressing the cost. We don’t have to run the diesel-fired and the oil-based power plants which usually increase the rates,” he said.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara echoed Lotilla’s remark, saying that the DOE so far sees no yellow or red alerts based on its latest power situation outlook.

Guevara also reiterated that consumers should do their part in conserving energy so as to avoid a situation where demand goes up beyond and power supply needs to be contracted from costlier diesel-fired plants.

“The only possible thing that might happen is that you might have to run the more expensive plants,“ she said.—RF, GMA Integrated News