Energy Dept. to deploy gensets in Yolanda-hit Central PHL

The Department of Energy (DOE) is deploying generator sets to areas hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda in Central Philippines as immediate sources of power for relief operations.

 

"A total of 164 small gensets are ready for deployment to the different parts of the Visayas which have partial or no power," the department noted in an e-mailed statement.

 

The department is now coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to transport the gensets in a C130 aircraft.

 

The gensets will be distributed in areas in dire need of power, Energy Department director Mylene Capongcol said  in a phone interview Friday. 

 

"In badly hit areas, may mga gensets na allocated. But DOE's initiatives are ongoing for a concerted effort of the energy sector to restore power," she said.

 

On Thursday, 30 gensets have already been deployed to Roxas City in Capiz.

 

Sixty gensets will be deployed in Leyte province, according to the department. 

 

The other areas the department identified as power deficient include  Eastern Samar, Western Samar, Iloilo, Masbate, Coron in Palawan, and Bantayan in Cebu. Specific numbers of gensets were scheduled to be delivered in these areas in the coming days, it said.

 

Each 2 to 3 kilovolt ampere genset has enough capacity to power about 50 households.

 

Capongcol on Thursday told GMA News Online the energy sector is targeting to restore power in badly affected areas in five to six weeks or before Christmas. 

 

“It will take time because nothing has been spared,” she said. – VS, GMA News