The Department of Energy (DOE) said it expects Mindanao to have a total power supply of 3,108 megawatts (MWs) by 2016.
In the budget proposal of the DOE, which cites its targets for 2016, it said that the 2014 dependable capacity and the committed power projects for “Mindanao [grid] totals 3,108 MWs for 2016.”
The DOE noted the projects that were included had a committed status on June 2015.
The expected 3,108-MW capacity is far from the current supply of 1,232 MW, based on National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’s (NGCP) data on Tuesday, due to the lack of water elevation in most of the dams in Mindanao, as earlier reported by the National Power Corp. (Napocor).
On Tuesday the NGCP said the island lacks a capacity of 58 MW.
DOE data, as of June 2015, bared that 1,205 MW of capacity will come online by the end of next year. The power plants are: 300-MW coal-fired Therma South Energy (by Aboitiz Power Corp.; the 200-MW coal-fired Southern Mindanao power station (Alcantara Group); the 405-MW coal-fired FDC Misamis (Filinvest Group); and 300-MW SMC Davao power plant (San Miguel Power Corp.).
For Wednesday, NGCP forecasts a shortage of 115 MW, coming from a power demand of 1,238 MW and a supply of 1,353 MW.
Last month the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee said that Lake Lanao and the Agus and Pulangi dams had dropping water levels.
MPMC added that the biggest coal-fired power plant in the region, the 210-MW Steag, had one of its 105-MW unit undergo a preventive maintenance shutdown.
MPMC further said it expects the unit to be back by August 16.