Napocor to use P969.3M from DBM to rehab SPUG

State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) will spend the P969.3 million released to it by the Department of Budget and Management to support the operations and rehabilitate small power plants that provide electricity to remote places in the countryside under the Small Power Utilities Group or SPUG.

 

In an e-mailed statement Wednesday, the Department of Budget and Management said it released P969.3 million to Napocor for operational and maintenance requirements of SPUG which implements electrification projects in the far-flung areas.

 

SPUG is mandated by law to provide power generation and electrify areas not connected to the main grid – also called “missionary areas” for the energy sector.

 

“By putting far-flung areas without electricity on the power grid, we can ensure the gradual economic empowerment and much-needed commercial expansion in these remote communities,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said.

 

In a phone interview, Napocor president Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said the bulk of Napocor's Special Allotment Release Order or SARO will be spent on spare parts of SPUG operations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

 

"Our plants under SPUG are old that's why we need to refleet them," she said.

 

As of September, SPUG was operating 312 power plants in 236 service areas, with a total installed capacity of 327,523 kilowatts (kW) covering 36 provinces.

 

Cruz-Sta. Rita said part of the money will also be used to put up transmission lines, substations and additional capacity.

 

On its website, Napocor said it will expand the capacity of the following transmission lines and substations:

Napocor also said Projects on additional capacity involve the procurement of 52 generator sets in 69 municipalities in 16 provinces involving 169,311 households. – VS, GMA News