Energy supply has to keep up with economic growth, group says

MANILA, Philippines – With more investments expected to pour into the country in the coming years, the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (Pippa) called on the government to ensure the sufficient, reliable, and competitively priced power supply.

Citing the impact of the country’s phenomenal economic growth in 2012 and the historic highs in the Philippine Stock Market on investor confidence, Pippa President Ernesto Pantangco stressed the need to adjust projections on power supply.

“Given the latest developments, it is already necessary to put up the necessary infrastructures that will secure the continuous supply of electricity,” he said. This includes revisiting the target capacity for baseload power plants, or those that generate dependable capacity sold to the grid.

“An unreliable power system charging high energy costs dissuades investments and investors both in the short and long term. Baseload power plants that run on coal or natural gas produce energy at a constant rate, usually at a more competitive cost relative to other power facilities available to the system,” he added. 

The country’s Philippine Energy Plan, prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) states that additional 11,000 MW capacity is needed until 2030.

However, this projection is based on a 4.79% annual growth in energy demand. Currently, the country only has 13,000 MW in dependable capacity, and the overall economy has grown 7.1% in the 3rd quarter of 2012.

Currently, electricity consumption in the Luzon grid means 3 new 600 megawatt (MW) power plants have to be online every year from 2015 to 2017, DOE data showed. – Rappler.com