The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to transfer generator sets to Occidental Mindoro from Eastern Visayas to help ease the province’s power woes. At a Saturday news forum in Quezon City, DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the generator sets will aid vital facilities on the island, especially hospitals. ‘Ang tinatarget sana namin ay maglipat, at itutuloy namin ito, ng mga genset at 8 megawatts iyan galing sa Region 8 papuntang Occidental Mindoro (What we target and we will push through with this is to transfer gensets of 8 megawatts to Occidental Mindoro from Region 8),’ he said. Occidental Mindoro has a power demand of around 30 megawatts but the working power plant there is able to deliver just 7 megawatts (MW), leading to frequent brownouts, said Fuentebella. Malacañang said earlier the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corporation (OMCPC) have agreed to run the three power stations of OMCPC to help address the province’s power crisis. The power stations in the Sablayan area which have a 5-MW capacity; Mamburao, Paluan, Sta. Cruz, and Abra de Ilog (MAPSA), 7 MW; and San Jose, Magsaysay, Rizal, Calitaan (SAMARICA), 20 MW, will be running 24-hours to provide electricity, Malacañang said. Fuentebella said the national government is also taking steps to address the same power issues faced by Oriental Mindoro. ‘The entire island should be interconnected to the grid already so we plan to hasten,’ he said. ‘It will be hastened and I think the plan is 2026… If you look at the size of Mindoro, napakalaki ng potential niya (it has huge potential) to help the economy so we just need to make sure that we are providing quality electricity services at the right prices and interconnection is one of the strategies,’ he said. He said stakeholders are also looking at how Occidental and Oriental Mindoro can conduct a joint competitive selection process.

Source: Philippines News Agency