The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) said the country’s power supply outlook for this year remains “bleak.”
Pedro Maniego, Jr., Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities senior policy advisor, said ICSC does not expect much improvement in the supply situation from both coal and fossil gas power plants.
“The performance of several coal plants were characterized by prolonged and recurrent outages even after repairs and maintenance. Fossil gas supply remains restricted affecting the operations of natural gas plants. The entry of new solar and other renewable energy power plants to augment much needed supply are likewise constrained by limited transmission and distribution interconnection capacities,” Maniego said.
The ICSC said the possibility of forced outages of coal-fired power plants must always be taken into consideration as this may “significantly deplete the available capacity” during the second quarter of the year which includes the summer months.
Maniego added the operation of natural gas power plants must be observed properly as their output may also be affected with the pending completion of ongoing liquefied natural gas import terminals in the country. – Jed Macapagal
