Luzon power supply at tipping point, but are the solutions suitable?

Electricity demand surge ushered in by the country’s bit-by-bit economic reopening is now wrestling with available supply – especially for Luzon grid – but news of greenfield power plant developments are still not up to expectations.

The main power grid can still count on new plants coming on stream commercially until next year – the last one could be unit two of the 1,336megawatt GNPower Dinginin plant in Bataan.

Beyond that though, power supply in Luzon can no longer tread on comfortable level – particularly in the next few years when the Philippines is targeting to bounce back from the economic distress of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A June 10 Senate hearing on the rotational brownouts that happened on May 31 and June 1, turned into a “confrontational scene,” but beyond the political drama, the entire nation has been waiting for pronouncements from the Department of Energy (DOE) on how supply can be specifically addressed to prevent future brownouts. Yet the response given by the agency had been blurry, to say the least.