Power plant pipeline signals continued dominance of coal

COAL remains the dominant source of power for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao during the first half and will continue to be a major contributor to new capacities in the coming years, the Department of Energy (DoE) said in its latest report on the country’s power supply and demand.

“Capacities which will be coming in the pipeline are largely coal power projects with 4,465 MW (megawatts) committed and 9,903 MW indicative capacities,” the DoE said.

The upcoming coal plants account for a big portion of the committed capacity, or projects that have secured investor funding or bank financing, at 5,839 MW. The comparative figure for “indicative” power plants, or those that are negotiating power supply agreements ahead of closing project financing, is 22,160 MW.

The DoE report validates power sector projections that coal will remain the country’s main power source in the coming years.

The department has been vocal about being “technology neutral.” It has also encouraged investors to be guided by a system that requires 70% baseload or continuous 24-hour power, 20% mid- merit power that can run when needed, and 10% peaking power that produces maximum capacity at around the same time that electricity demand for the day reaches its peak level.

As of the first half, the DoE said the country’s total installed capacity had remained dominated by coal at 35% or 7,568 MW, followed by renewable energy at 32% or 7,038 MW, oil- based at 17% or 3,584 MW, and natural gas at 16% or 3,431 MW.

“In terms of power generation, coal remained the major source of electricity for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with a combined share at 49% or 21,707 MWh (megawatthours),” the department said.

“Newly operational plants from January-June 2017 are mainly coal and solar power plants which added 150 MW and 78 MW to the total installed capacity,” it said.

In terms of dependability, the DoE said the Philippine power system remained generally stable in the first half despite the natural and man- made calamities experienced during the period such as earthquakes in Batangas in Luzon and Leyte in Visayas and the Marawi siege in Mindanao.

This is also despite events such as the Malampaya gas maintenance shutdown in Luzon, forced outages of generation and transmission facilities, which resulted in “load dropping” incidents in the three major grids — Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“The strong coordination among all energy stakeholders to immediately respond to these challenges was key towards this end, coupled with the additional power generation capacities of 237 MW. The relatively low demand during critical supply periods also aid in maintaining the stability of the power system,” the DoE said.

As of June, the country has a total installed capacity of 21,621 MW, dependable capacity of 19,537 MW and available capacity of 15,393 MW.

The report also said that electricity sales and consumption for the first half grew by 1.83% to 37,958,689 MWh as compared with 37,276,101 MWh in the same period last year.

“The total peak demand as of June 2017 at 13,684 MW is 3.10% higher compared to the 2016 level at 13,273 MW,” the DoE said.