The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is optimistic of the successful pursuit of its I-PURE or Integration of Productive Uses of Renewable Energy program in Mindanao and deepen further the island’s electrification rate of only 80 percent at the moment.
I-PURE Mindanao is pushing ahead with a grant from the European Union-Access to Sustainable Energy Program in partnership with the Department of Energy, the Mindanao Development Authority and various local government units.
The project has thus far energized 3,077 off-grid households of the 5,261 targets through photovoltaic mainstreaming within the franchise area of both the Cotabato Electric Cooperative and South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative.
NEA said the remaining 2,184 electrification projects under I-PURE are ongoing through the Barangay Line Enhancement Program within the Tawi-Tawi Electric Cooperative service area.
Antonio Mariano Almeda, NEA administrator, said the I-PURE program and similar projects, present opportunities for address the challenge of 100 percent total electrification by 2028.
Almeda acknowledged the provinces under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) require additional help in moving the electrification program forward.
NEA data show BARMM provinces only 40-percent electrified covering 282,330 households of the 703,499 potential connections.
The NEA supervises 121 electric cooperatives across the country.
