Philippines considers hasty solution to Mindanao power crisis

Intends to provide power generator sets to electric cooperatives in Mindanao.

Some US$200 million will be needed to implement this temporary solution, said the Department of Energy. Mindanao is in the grip of a stubborn power crisis with blackouts of up to eight hours occurring almost daily for the past few weeks.

Island-wide outages re-emerged this year as decades-old hydroelectric power plants that supply most of the electricity in Mindanao are running at only half their full capacity, providing less than 500 megawatts.

Mindanao needs at least 1,300 MW to be fully energized but electricity demand is growing 5% annually.

DoE is looking for ways the government can shoulder the cost of buying generator sets for local cooperatives without violating the provisions of the Energy Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, the EPIRA law that prohibits the government from investing in power.