The Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing for the implementation and timely completion of key energy projects to ensure reliable, stable, sustainable and secure energy supply in the Philippines.
In a report prepared by the agency for President Duterte, who will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, the DOE identified six plans and programs that are up for implementation.
First on the DOE’s list is the attainment of 100 percent household electrification by 2022 or even earlier, if possible. The Total Electrification Program will cover the removal of challenges in providing electricity to communities in the country.
Earlier, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the government would not hesitate to take over the unserved areas tasked to be energized to distribution utilities.
President Duterte earlier instructed the DOE to initiate “bold” executive actions to allow the entry of the private sector so that the consumers can have access to adequate and affordable electricity that will redound to more economic and social benefits.
The agency is also banking on the expected operation of power generation capacities totaling 7,466 megawatts (MW) from 2018 to 2022. To ensure the timely implementation of these power projects, the DOE will decide which energy projects would be classified as “projects of national significance” under Executive Order (EO) 30.
“EO 30 ensures the efficient and effective implementation of energy projects classified to be of national significance,” the DOE said in its report.
So far, the DOE has declared the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) as project of national significance.
The P52-billion MVIP project is in support of the government’s vision to interconnect the major grids into a single national grid which is expected to help improve the overall power supply security in the country as sharing of reserves will already become possible.
The completion of the MVIP and the planned Batangas liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub project are two big-ticket priority projects that the DOE intends to see completed soon.
“The MVIP is seen to improve overall power supply security through sharing of reserves and allow optimization of available resources,” while the LNG project “covers LNG supply, storage units, regasification plants, distribution facilities and a modular 200-MW power plant.”
Fourth on the DOE’s list is the oil field discovery in Alegria, Cebu, which has a commercial quantity of 28 million barrels of oil and 9.42 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The natural gas and oil production of the oil field may last until 2037.
The agency also wants to see its flagship projects enumerated in the 2017-2022 Public Investment Program. This includes the rehabilitation of all Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric plants, Agus 6 unit 4 major rehabilitation and Pulangi 4 HEP selective dredging project.
Last on the DOE’s list is the proposed unbundling of petroleum product prices. The draft policy enables the unbundling of the base prices of petroleum products, namely, gasoline, automotive and industrial diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, bunker fuel oil and household and automotive liquefied petroleum gas.
This is the first time that the government, through the DOE, will require oil companies to make public the breakdown of the costs that go into the pricing of fuel.