NEA and power co-ops energize 362 remote villages in first 4 months of ’21

THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported Wednesday that a total of 362 sitios or far-flung communities now have electricity as of April this year.

From January to April this year, NEA and electric cooperatives (ECS) were able to bring power to off-grid areas under the agency’s Sitio Electrification Program (SEP).

Based on data, 200 sitios in Mindanao were newly energized, followed by the Visayas with 106 sitios, and Luzon with 56 sitios.

Broken down per region: six sitios were energized in Region 2; two sitios in Cordillera Administrative Region; 10 sitios in Region 3; five sitios in Region 4A; 21 sitios in Region 4B; and 12 sitios in Region 5.

At least 11 sitios were energized in Region 6; 78 sitios in Region 7; 17 sitios in Region 8; seven sitios in Region 9; 81 sitios in Region 10; seven sitios in Region 11; 67 sitios in Region 12; 27 sitios in Caraga; and 11 sitios in BARMM.

Funding was sourced from the previous years’ General Appropriations Act (GAA).

For this year’s SEP implementation, the NEA has an approved budget of P1.627 billion. This amount will be able to electrify 1,085 sitios nationwide. Energizing a sitio costs an average P1.5 million.

For the energization of offgrid areas in the countryside, the NEA is undertaking two solutions: the Strategized Sitio Electrification Program (SSEP) and the Strategized Household Electrification Program (SHEP).

The SSEP has an allocated budget of P12 million under the 2019 GAA to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a mini-grid system with renewable-energy sources.

Feasibility study is currently being done in six off-grid sites under the franchise areas of Quezon II Electric Cooperative Inc. (QUEZELCO II), Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (ZANECO), and South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative Inc. (SOCOTECO II).

The SHEP, on the other hand, is intended to bring electricity to dispersed and isolated households, which are unviable for grid connection for the next five years. The target is to electrify at least 5,000 households in off-grid areas using Solar Home Systems (SHS).

The installation of SHS is now ongoing in the household beneficiaries under the coverage areas of ZANECO, Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative Inc. (BISELCO), Iloilo III Electric Cooperative Inc. (ILECO III), Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative Inc. (CASURECO IV), and Cotabato Electric Cooperative Inc. (COTELCO).