DoE kicks off full-power bid
An unserved area refers to an area with no electricity access, distribution system lines, individual home system, or no connection to any microgrid system
Daily TribuneAn unserved area refers to an area with no electricity access, distribution system lines, individual home system, or no connection to any microgrid system
The Department of Energy, or DoE, seeks to generate private investments through competitive selection process or CSP to cover unserved and underserved areas in areas beyond the electricity grid.
The DoE said the new areas were outlined under the 2023 to 2032 National Total Electrification Roadmap or NTER in conjunction with the government's goal to achieve 100 percent electricity service by 2028.
For the initial auction, the Microgrid Service Provider or MGSP–CSP will be scheduled within the fourth quarter, while the awarding is targeted by the first quarter of 2024.
This bidding will cover 98 unserved areas and underserved areas clustered into 49 lots located in remote areas of the country.
A total of 15,645 households are expected to benefit from the initial auction.
Based on the 2020 census of population and household projections, the DoE expects the last-mile electrification effort to benefit 3.7 million households.
3.7M get connected
Of the total, 2.7 million are within the franchise areas of electric cooperatives that will require different strategies including appropriate subsidy and innovative schemes
The DoE also noted that 1.3 million of the households are located in areas that are not connected to distribution and transmission systems, thus requiring alternative solutions.
An unserved area refers to an area with no electricity access, distribution system lines, individual home system, or no connection to any microgrid system.
Underserved area, on the other hand, refers to an area where electricity services are less than 24 hours served by individual home systems, microgrid systems, or distribution utilities.
Republic Act 11646 or the Microgrid Systems Act of 2022 mandates the conduct of a CSP before the system provider can serve off-grid areas.
It also requires distribution utilities to submit their local total electrification roadmaps and list of underserved areas.
