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INTO THE LNG WORLD Firms see 2023 launch of natgas hubs in Quezon province to fuel power generation, among others
T
By Manuel T. Cayon
summer energy supply when households and industries use more megawatts of power. Only recently did the DOE said it may embark on encouraging households and private establishments to consciously observe energy conservation behavior to help stave off a potential shortage in power supply in the summer of 2023. It said the demand-side management would “play a key role in addressing potential power shortages in the country, especially during the summer months.” The DOE assured the public, however, that the country’s power reserve would likely remain sufficient between now and the three months before summer, pointing to
HREE terminal hubs will finally flash their signal to world suppliers to have their supply tankers set sail and dock their cargo of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Philippines. This development would then increase the participation of natural gas in the utilization of this energy source for power and transportation in the country.
Energy World Corp. (EWC), an Australia-listed company, made the first official blast when it announced in September the final phase of the construction of its power station and the LNG terminal hub in Pagbilao, Quezon, after years of waiting for the completion of an interconnection facility being undertaken by a transmission company. The Department of Energy (DOE), meanwhile, told a foreign news wire agency last week that “two other government-approved LNG import terminal projects in the Philippines are expected to begin commercial operations in early 2023.” These are the projects of Singapore-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific (AG&P) and First Gen Corp (FGEN.PS) of the Lopez group. The three projects expected to go online to the grid next year may at least help backstop, if not offer a long-shot relief, for Luzon, which faces a feared power shortage in the summer months, a prospect increasingly made dire by the
international impact of the energy tussle between Europe and Russia. Last week, Europe accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of allegedly choking the LNG, coal and fuel energy supply line to Europe, a move supposedly timed for winter when fuel is badly needed to heat homes and fuel the operation of factories.
the usually cool weather in the weeks past the cool December month. The cue would be “educating the public on how they can help through their sustainable consumption patterns to reduce the amount of energy that is needed to carry out the same levels of activity or to produce the same amount or volume of goods,” Lotilla told reporters earlier in Manila. Another stop-gap measure would be to address unutilized capacity or stranded power by fixing transmission constraints.
Russia-Europe tug of war
THUS, the three LNG terminals and hub to come online next year Continued on A2
Summer woes
THE weather is also a factor in the Philippine energy projections. Faced with fluctuating electricity supply due to aging power stations and weather-dependent hydroelectric power—and now the steep price of oil and petroleum—Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the delay in LNG projects has added to the strained energy situation in Luzon, especially. The declining production in the Malampaya wells offshore the contested West Philippine Sea renders more problematic the task of securing more gas supplies. All these, Lotilla said, would have an impact on the country’s
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.6240
EWC officials led by its executive director, Graham Elliott, and investors inspect the LNG hub terminal of EWC in Pagbilao, Quezon. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ENERGY WORLD CORP.
n JAPAN 0.4040 n UK 65.5182 n HK 7.4683 n CHINA 8.2326 n SINGAPORE 41.0389 n AUSTRALIA 37.5956 n EU 57.4281 n KOREA 0.0416 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5998
Source: BSP (October 7, 2022)