DOE: Long-term solutions needed to address power outages in off-grid areas

The government is looking at long-term solutions to address the recurring power outages in off-grid areas of the country, according to the Department of Energy on Tuesday. 

"We have to look at long-term solutions. I mean, for example, the island of Mindoro, it has so much potential. You have seen there the latest report of the World Bank...the Southern Mindoro area, stretching from Southern Mindoro--Bulalacao and that area to Northern Panay, Eastern Panay," Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said at a virtual press briefing. 

Citing a report from the World Bank, the Energy chief said Mindoro has an untapped potential of 28 gigawatts or 28,000 megawatts.

"So, you can see the untapped potential. If you’re going to look for solar in Mindoro, the town of Sablayan is bigger than the entire province of Cavite. That’s a huge piece of land out there. And we’re talking only [about] one town. But we also need to interconnect with the entire island," Lotilla said.

Senator Raffy Tulfo has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the "persistent and recurring" power outages and rotational blackouts plaguing several parts of the country in the past two years, including Mindoro, which he described as the "most disturbing" case among all regions suffering from power outages. 

Lotilla said that as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the DOE is looking for long-term solutions.

"The key is how to transform the National Power Corporation into dynamo work for missionary electrification," he said.

The Energy chief said that apart from Mindoro, other islands such as Masbate, Palawan, and Marinduque face the same issues and "are feeling the brunt of what I pointed out was the 89% dependence of off-grid power sources on oil-based sources of energy."

Lotilla, nonetheless, said that the Energy Regulatory Commission "is already attending to this problem in the off-grid areas."

The DOE’s Philippine Energy Plan 2022-2024 showed initiatives for the off-grid islands of Mindoro, Palawan, Catanduanes, and Marinduque, which will be implemented by the state-run National Transmission Corporation (TransCo). 

"I want to assure you and the people that we are going to find solutions and not, what shall I say, band-aid [solutions]… We’ve got to also create economic activity, and that’s the long-term solution with the kind of new sources that we are going to introduce," Lotilla said. —VBL, GMA News