Power industry leaders have warned of inadequate power supply next year, saying there is barely enough for the country’ requirements given no new power plants coming online anytime soon.
Manuel V. Pangilinan, Manila Electric Co. chairman and chief executive officer, said only San Miguel Corp.’s 1,750-megawatt liquefied natural gas-fired power plant generated by Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI) can be counted on to supply the anticipated deficit.
And even then, Pangilinan said EERI’s impact may not be felt in full until early in 2025.
EERI earlier said two generating units with a capacity of 437.5 MW each may be operational by September next year and another 437.5 MW unit will be ready by December 2024. The power company did not say as to when the 437.5-MW facility will be ready.
“It’s always good to have surplus power because you put permanent pressure on prices downward. If you don’t have surplus capacity, you face bouts of tightness that we don’t want to see. As a distributor, we want to see good margins of supply-to-demand,” Pangilinan told reporters in a media event in Pasig City last week.
The situation could deteriorate as Emmanuel Rubio, Aboitiz Power president and chief executive officer, said demand of around 600 to 700 MW is forecast next year.
But Rubio acknowledged the power supply deficit could prove bearable even with the expected impact of El Niño on hydro power facilities because of the improved availability of the 2 by 600 MW Ilijan combined-cycle plant in Batangas.
“(But it’s) still going to be tight, especially during summer,” he said.
He expressed optimism in a separate media event in Makati City last week that the system will have ample supply: “Maybe there will be times when diesel plants will be dispatched but it’s good that Ilijan is now running, unlike in early 2022. I think we should be ok.”
Rubio noted that water levels at the Magat Dam in Isabela, where Aboitiz Power operates a hydro power plant, as below normal given the early onset of El Niño. The situation is expected to persist until next year.
