| Work Detail |
Developing more mini-grid systems in the country will help achieve the government’s goal of total electrification, according to the Renewable Energy Association of the Philippines (REAP).
“Mini-grid system will play an important role in ensuring and accelerating the total electrification of the country. Being an archipelagic country, centralized power generation can be challenging if not costly,” said Erel Narida, REAP president.
Narida added such effort should be given a closer look as 88.3 percent or 2.78 million households are still unelectrified as of end-2017.
“Most of these households are located in Visayas and Mindanao, mostly small islands, either under-served using expensive diesel genset with limited operating or totally un-served. Mini-grid system can utilize the indigenous and new and renewable energy like solar, wind, hydro, biomass or ocean in power generation that will eventually reduce our dependence on diesel or imported energy,” he said.
Narida cited Sabang Renewable Energy Corp.’s (SREC) mini-grid project in Puerto Princesa, Palawan as a good example of the technology’s effectivity as it can generate as much as 2.6 megawatts peak once it is completed.
SREC is a consortium of Vivant Energy Corp., Gigawatt Power Inc. and WEnergy Global.
The setup, which integrates solar, battery and a backup diesel genset, is capable of powering at least 10 public buildings, 18 small businesses, 19 hotels and restaurants and 583 households. |
