GBP ready to support Visayas demand as holiday season nears
Independent power producer Global Business Power is gearing up to support anticipated increase in energy demand as the busy holiday season rolls in.
GBP President Jaime T. Azurin said that the company has recently completed preventive maintenance of its Panay and Cebu plants in anticipation of increased economic activity leading to the Christmas holiday. “We strive to keep our plants in optimum efficiency to help meet Visayas’ demand for reliable, adequate, and cost-efficient power supply,” he said.
Azurin added that since January, GBP has been routinely conducting preventive maintenance on all of its Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) plants, with the last plant completing the procedure in August.
Data from GBP’s energy economics and planning show that power demand in the Visayas for the last quarter of the year is expected to grow 5.70% due to increased economic activity around the holiday season. Peak demand is projected to average around 2,147MW for the last three months of the year.
The Department of Energy, meanwhile, expects demand to peak even higher in the region at 2,299 MW[1] in November. For 2019, Visayas demand is projected to be highest during the “Ber” season, followed by the summer months.
“We see an increase
in Visayas energy demand not only due to holiday activities, but also due to completed
and ongoing infrastructure projects under the government’s ‘Build Build Build’
program,” said GBP Vice President for Commercial and Strategy Philip Dasalla.
These projects include the recently operational Terminal 2 of the Mactan
Cebu International airport, the ongoing development of the 73-kilometer Metro
Cebu Expressway and the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway, the Jalaur River Dam in
Iloilo, and several airport upgrades in the region. Iloilo and Cebu, where GBP
has operations, are two of the region’s fastest-growing hubs.
[1] https://www.ngcp.ph/Content/uploads/document/gop/VisayasPowerOutlook2018PerQuarter.pdf
In 2018, Western Visayas and Central Visayas grew their regional domestic product by 6.1% and 7.6% respectively. #
