April 23, 2023
Philippines

Summer heat further burdens Mindoro’s power supply and rates

By Ire Joe Laurente | April 23, 2023 | manilatimes.net

The summer months would not really be so kind to Mindoro’s power consumers, the local electric cooperative here said.

In a post on their social media page on Thursday, April 20, the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco) said that based on their technical data, the previous 52.8 megawatts (MW) demand in the month of February had reached 65.81 MW this March. “The more than 13 MW increase in the demand is equivalent to the power supply for the towns of Puerto Galera, Pinamalayan and Roxas, according to our latest dispatch,” the post said in Filipino.

With the increase in the temperature and the power demand also comes the decrease in the supply provided by the contracted renewable energy power plants because of the drying up of rivers in the mini-hydro power plants and the weakening of the wind for the windmills in Puerto Galera, the post further said.

In a text message also on Thursday, Ormeco General Manager Humphrey Dolor said they are now using the “Emergency Power Plants,” with approval of the Department of Energy, with a capacity of 18.3 MW, enough for the current demand in the province.

He added that the consumers should be prepared for the coming months, as the five months of lower rates since October last year is a good opportunity for everyone but expect a high probability of a rate increase.

The good news, however, is that the increase would happen only during the dry season and once the onset of the rainy season, the operations of the renewable energy power plants will resume.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2023/04/23/summer-heat-further-burdens-mindoros-power-supply-and-rates/