Mindanao to need additional 300MW annually starting 2022

DAVAO CITY – At least 300 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity must be added to the Mindanao grid annually starting 2022 to meet the growing demand for additional power on the back of several ongoing developments taking place in the island, an official of the Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) said.

Milan, adviser for Mindanao of the AEV, said in an interview that Mindanao might need more power investors investing in additional capacities as the current reserves might not be sufficient to meet the demand after three years.

As of Monday, the National Grid Power Corporation (NGCP) recorded that Mindanao’s existing capacity reached 2,533 MW while demand was 1,790 MW, leaving only 743 MW in excess power.

“At the rate we’re growing, our excess might be consumed by the growth if no investments will come in. We’ll have nothing. We go back to the bust and boom situation. We don’t want that to happen so our growth in Mindanao continues,” Milan, also president of Davao City Chamber Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCI), said.

Industry-wide projection on the growth of Mindanao’s demand for power averages at least eight percent annually, he said.

Milan said there have been new investments in renewable power to augment the power supply in Mindanao but most of them are in smaller capacities.

He said the Aboitiz company was closely monitoring the power situation in Mindanao because it can expand by another 300 MW the company’s existing Therma South Inc. (TSI) in Barangay Binugao, Toril.

The company invested P35 billion for TSI 1 and TSI 2 with combined capacities of 300 MW. These started operations in January 2016.

“We cannot just invest when it’s not going to be used because that’s really a costly investment. We are looking at the right time,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV)