Power supply may be challenging next year especially if the operations of the planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) are not fully prepared, according to Isidro Consunji, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. chief executive officer.
Consunji also expects higher electricity rates next year as LNG terminals may not yet be geared for full operations.
Consunji, in a briefing in Makati City last Friday, said power supply will stabilize by 2024 but prices will still continue to be high.
“(Year) 2023 is the most challenging because LNGs are not yet prepared. By 2024, they are already prepared and we may have no brownouts but rates may still be expensive,” Consunji said.
Based on progress reports provided by project proponents to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau last month, Linseed Field Power Corp. and AG&P is on track to complete its integrated import terminal in Ilijan, Batangas for commissioning by March 2023 and commercial operations by April 2023.
Meanwhile, FGEN LNG Corp. with BWLNG terminal also in Batangas is also scheduled for commissioning by March and commercial operations by June , in line with the arrival of LNG supply to fuel its existing gas-fired power plants including the 1,000 MW Sta Rita, 500 MW San Lorenzo,414 MW San Gabriel and the 97 MW Avion.
But doubts are being cast on the sustainability of the said fuel resource.
Sam Reynolds, energy finance analyst of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said emerging LNG market in Southeast Asia “is hampered by several uncertainties such as the unaffordability of LNG and fuel supply insecurity.”
Reynolds said Philippine developers of LNG terminals have yet to secure fuel supply agreements.
Based on data from the DOE, as of September 2022, the country’s total installed capacity from natural gas-fired power plants is at 3,732 MW, equivalent to 13.2 percent of the overall 28,203 MW worth of installed power capacity nationwide.
