The National Power Corporation will distribute today 437 units of portable photovoltaic (PV) solar home systems to the Dumagat Indigenous Cultural Communities residing within the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve in Bulacan.
NPC emphasized in a statement on Thursday that the ceremonial turnover will be made, with each portable PV system capable of powering essential appliances such as LED lamps, radios, mobile phones, DC televisions, and electric fans.
“NPC is fully driven by the mission to achieve universal access to electricity for all Filipinos, including indigenous cultural communities in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,” Fernando Martin Roxas, NPC president and chief executive officer, said.
The NPC noted that PV solar home systems are expected to enable children to study at night and allow families to engage in small livelihood activities beyond daylight, as well as reduce their dependence on kerosene or other costly fuel sources, which may also be hazardous.
The NPC said the provision of solar home systems is a milestone activity under the Department of Energy’s Total Electrification Project (TEP) 2, which aims to enable households in far-flung rural areas to access sustainable energy.
NPC said that as a nationally funded project, the TEP focuses on energizing the remaining households in unserved and underserved communities nationwide by 2029. TEP also supports long-term goals of improving the reliability and resiliency of power supply, and adopting clean and affordable electricity in off-grid areas.
As part of their shared responsibility on total electrification, NPC and DOE is will distribute another 674 units of PV solar home systems to watershed communities in Upper Agno River Watershed in Benguet, San Roque Watershed in Pangasinan and Benguet, Buhi-Barit Watershed in Camarines Sur, Tiwi Watershed in Albay, and Pulangi Watershed in Bukidnon.
NPC supervises 274 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants nationwide in 238 areas in 188 municipalities across 34 provinces of the country. SPUG power plants are located in islands and communities that are not connected to the primary transmission grid which are powered mainly by diesel-fired generators.
NPC also manages the transmission systems of island provinces such as Palawan, Catanduanes, Masbate, Marinduque, and Mindoro. It is also tasked with overseeing watersheds and locating indigenous sources of power.
