ENERGY Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla on Wednesday assured that efforts to push more programs geared toward achieving energy sustainability and security would be intensified in 2015.
“With 2014 drawing to a close, the DOE [Department of Energy] is renewing its commitment of championing energy sustainability and security for the welfare of the Filipinos,” said the agency in a statement.
Proving to be a great avenue for the transparent and competitive awarding of potential energy areas in the country, the DOE conducted the Fifth Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR5).
For this year, seven coal areas (Area 2—CoalBlack Mining Corp.; Areas 6 and 7—Philsaga Mining Corp.; and Areas 4, 5, 10 and 11—Sahi Mining Corp.) were successfully awarded for exploration and development.
For 2015, the DOE is promoting and hoping to award areas under PECR5—Petroleum.
Also, the agency hastened renewable-energy (RE) development with its policy issuances on milestone approach for the awarding of service contracts—the first-come, first-served approach in the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) allocation—and the recommendation for increased FIT installation targets for solar to 500 megawatts (MW).
The DOE said 2014 was a banner year for RE, with the commissioning of large-scale power plants throughout the country. For solar, commissioned was the 22-MW San Carlos Solar Power Project in Negros. For wind, the power plants that were on stream are the 33-MW Northwind Power Project, the 150-MW Burgos Wind Power Project, the 81-MW Caparispisan Wind Power Project and the 54- MW San Lorenzo Wind Power Project.
To date, total installed capacity of RE on-grid stood at 5,396.82 MW. At the same time, the DOE has also awarded a total of 638 RE projects, with a total potential capacity of 10,068.031 MW.
To further extend the campaign on RE utilization, the DOE, likewise, spearheaded the installation of solar rooftop facilities in several academic institutions, such as the La Consolacion College of Manila, Manuel Luis Quezon University and Saint Scholastica’s College of Manila.
Power generation across the nation remains robust, with 319 MW of committed projects being recorded for the year.
From 2014 to 2020, the country can look forward to an additional 5,198.40 MW of power projects. The DOE is closely monitoring the completion of power infrastructures in the country.
For the strengthening of the power sector, the DOE, in coordination with the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the Cooperative Development Authority and other stakeholders, has been working on
addressing the concerns of electric cooperatives nationwide.
The DOE remained firm in assuring the public of its continued monitoring and power restoration in the areas affected by the recent typhoons. This is through the coordination and assistance with the NEA, other members of the energy family and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
For the summer of 2015, the DOE has been actively promoting the introduction of the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) in Luzon, and proposed the passage of a joint resolution to provide additional
generating capacities.
With 36 establishments already included and growing, ILP volunteers will be of significant assistance in the generation of power in Luzon in the coming summer months.
For the long term, the upcoming policy issuance on demand aggregation and supply auctioning will support the requirements of distribution utilities by offering a platform for matching aggregated demand with power-project proponents.
Also in the pipeline is the launch of the Open and Competitive Selection Process in early 2015 for the bidding of RE service contracts throughout the country, particularly those endorsed by the local government units.