MANILA, March 24 (PNA) — President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday reiterated the government’s commitment to put in necessary infrastructure that would ensure the sustained growth of the domestic economy.
In his speech during the Euromoney-hosted Philippines Investment Forum at The Peninsula Manila, the President said nine projects have been awarded within his term and 16 are in the various process of bidding process.
He said the government is committed to attain its goal of increasing infrastructure spending to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2016 to sustain the high level of economic growth that the county currently enjoys.
He cited that domestic growth averaged at 6.3 percent from 2010-13 against the 4.3 percent compared in the previous administration.
He, however, stressed that more will still be done especially on infrastructure and power generation.
”Infrastructure is one of the sectors that has greatly benefited from our drive to become more competitive,” he said attributing this to the public-private partnerships program (PPP).
Also, Aquino said the power sector is also placed in focus since it has been complicated for the longest time.
He said the country has about 15,665 megawatts (MW) of dependable capacity, which is enough to meet the highest projected demand of about 10,222 MW for 2015.
”But we cannot be content with this, especially with the potential power supply gap in Luzon this summer, due to the threat of El Niño and rehabilitation of the Malampaya gas field,” he said.
Thus, the President said the government is fast-tracking the rehabilitation of 300 MW Malaya Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 to help increase Luzon’s power supply.
He said they are also asking the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) “to optimize the dispatch of hydropower plants, which will generate additional energy supply during peak hours.”
He said the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), which is being undertaken with the private sector, has about 688.67 MW of available capacity, which can be tapped when demand rises during the summer months.
Under ILP, customers of Distribution Utilities (DUs) that have generator sets will be allowed to augment capacity when electricity supply is low to ensure that power deficit will be addressed.
These customers will then be paid on the fuel and oil used in running their own generators and on the depreciation of the equipment.
Also, the President said 48 committed projects with a projected capacity of 4,693 MW is scheduled to go online between this year and 2018, thus, ensuring that additional demand for power will be addressed.
He said 21 of these 48 projects are into renewable energy (RE), which is in support to the government’s bid to tap other energy sources in the country.
”As you can see, we are determined to continue treading green pathways to development, and to maintain our status as one of the driving forces for clean energy in the region. As I have said before, our vulnerabilities to climate risk should not keep us from exerting maximum efforts in pursuing non-conventional sources of energy. We are hopeful that the rest of the world will see the value in such a strategy,” he added. (PNA)