Mindanao power coops need to invest in research

MANILA, Philippines — The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has urged Mindanao power cooperatives to invest in research and development to remain competitive.

Investing in research and development would allow electric cooperatives (EC) to remain competitive and to better address the challenges facing the power industry, NEA chief Edgardo Masongsong said.

He also recognized the need for the NEA to establish its own research and development unit. 

“I am advocating the establishment of a research and development unit in NEA. We need a pool of experts who can generate, consolidate and analyze data on the power industry,” Masongsong said.

Masongsong likewise stressed that research is essential in policy formulation.

“We in the electric cooperatives must, in our right, be experts in matters regarding power industry,” he said. 

“We cannot move forward without research and development. We have to understand bilateral agreements and contracts. How do we protect the interest of our consumers if we don’t understand anything about the industry? We owe it to our kids and grandkids,” he explained.

The state-run agency is pushing for the sustainable development of the nation’s rural communities by providing electricity services to every Filipino household.

To speed up the implementation of rural electrification, NEA is working on a policy aimed to maximize microgrid and solar home systems, as well as access to sustainable energy program.

A microgrid system is a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources with clearly defined boundaries which act as a single controllable grid and can connect and disconnect from the national grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or island mode.

This as NEA targets to energize 100 percent of rural households nationwide by 2022, which will be met through the development of mini-grids.

Relying solely on its budget, this means NEA would need an estimated yearly budget of P4.8 billion to P5.2 billion to meet its target in five years.

But if microgrid systems will be developed by the private sector, this will allow to generate savings and remove the burden and risk from government in line with achieving the rural electrification goals, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said.

The Senate Committee on Energy, which Gatchalian chairs, is forming a law that will support the development of microgrid systems.