DPC takes on the power challenge

January 13, 2017

Amid growing demand for electricity to support economic activities, the DMCI Power Corporation (DPC) is venturing into renewable energy (RE) particularly hydropower having the potential in terms of reliability and commercial viability. As urbanization spreads to suburbs and even to remote areas such as islands now served modern power stations, pent up demand for electricity is seen to skyrocket.

With the emergence of electric vehicles, smart appliances and smart grids, it will take a lot more megawatts to satisfy the nations growing appetite for electricity. DPC now makes its way to take on the challenge of power stability.

“Right now, we have identified one or two areas. But the locations could still change depending on the results of our feasibility studies,” Nestro D. Dadivas, DPC president said. “Through this venture, we are actually supporting the call of the Department of Energy through their Power Development Plan in increasing self-sufficiency and using environment-friendly and cleaner fuels by firming up the entry of renewable energy capacities,” he added.

Taking advantage of the financial incentives offered by the government to proponents of renewable energy projects, DPC is already in the initial stage of identifying locations for the RE projects.  With the realization and implementation of this project, the current 58.00% of households energized through Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative (SUKELCO) is forecast to increase by 30% if this will go in full swing. The economy of Sultan Kudarat and other provinces in Mindanao are continuously improving, so does the demand for energy.

Manwhile, as part of its commitment in providing reliable and efficient electricity to the underserved communities in the grid and off-grid areas in the country, DPC also expressed its interest to some electric cooperatives to inject its expertise in supplying power especially in the Mindanao region.

“Our electric cooperative partners have expressed positive feedback in our interest to provide power in the country, and we will continue to diversify our portfolio with more energy sources.” Dadivas said.
Identification of the area’s demand situation, power users, as well as the electric cooperative’s future plans for improvement were included in the  studies conducted by DPC. In this way, delivery of the needed power requirements will be properly addressed.