DOE does not expect any power supply issues during 2022 elections
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) said Saturday that it does not see any problems in power supply on elections day.
In an interview with Dobol B TV, DOE Electric Power Industry Management Bureau Director Mario Marasigan said they have been monitoring the power situation since May 2.
"Sa kasalukuyan po, nagumpisa kami nung May 2 para sa monitoring ng ating power industry and so far, wala po tayong nakikitang mga problema o potential na problema 'pag dating po sa serbisyo ng kuryente lalong lalo na po dito sa ating eleksyon," he said.
("We started monitoring the power industry on May 2 and so far, we don't see any problems or potential problems when it comes to the supply of power during elections.")
He noted that the country recorded the highest supply of the year, so far, at over 14,000 megawatts (MW) on Friday, and a demand of about 11,500 MW.
All power plants have been under "normal operations" since Friday, except for the San Carlos Solar Energy power plant which was disconnected from the grid; and unit 1 of the Cebu Energy Development Corp. coal-fired power plant which tripped earlier this week, the DOE said in a statement to reporters on Saturday.
Stable power in the elections is needed for the timely transmittal of information. Uninterrupted power supply is crucial for the automated polls, which will use vote counting machines to process the ballots.
RELATED: DOE tells power sector to ensure sufficient power for elections
The DOE, which leads an energy task force for the polls, has allayed fears of possible power interruptions on elections day, which Manila-based policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) earlier raised, saying that there will be "sufficient supply" for the polls.
In February, ICSC warned in a report that power interruptions may take place in the second quarter of this year, citing "very tight supply" caused by delays in the commercial operations of the second unit of GNPower Dinignin— a major coal-fired power plant— and plant de-ratings caused by the gas restrictions of the Malampaya project.
The national and local elections will be held on May 9.
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