POWER DEMAND. Photo shows the bustling Cebu IT Park, a call center hub in Cebu City. AboitizPower Corp. on Monday (Sept. 20, 2021) said the energy sector is now showing signs of demand and consumption recovery as the country’s economic revival efforts continue. (Photo courtesy of cebuholdings.com)
CEBU CITY – Power demand is now showing signs of improvement, an indication of the country’s continued economic recovery amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, a top official of Aboitiz Power Corp. said on Monday.
“Power is picking up this year coming from a lean demand last year due to the pandemic,” company executive vice president and chief operating officer Jaime Jose Aboitiz said during a virtual briefing with the Cebu press.
Aboitiz attributed the increasing energy demand to the easing of quarantine restrictions, which he hopes would be sustained moving forward as the country’s economy continues to recover.
In particular, he projected that the upcoming 2022 elections would significantly drive power consumption in the country.
Election season like in the past, Aboitiz said, has always been a “banner year for electricity consumption,” and this should further be driven this time as economic recovery efforts are underway.
The growth of the Philippine economy has always been directly proportional to energy consumption, and thus entails a rising demand for reliable power if the country expects sustained economic expansion post-pandemic.
Aboitiz said the power firm is further transitioning to more renewable energy sources in response to climate-related risks and in support of the government’s efforts to build the renewable energy market in the country.
AboitizPower is now the country’s largest owner and operator of renewable energy based on installed capacity.
Over the next decade, the company is set to expand its Cleanergy portfolio in support of the government’s efforts to promote renewable energy in the country and to serve as the organization’s contribution to the global renewable energy targets.
By 2030, it is targeting an almost 50:50 Cleanergy and thermal capacity mix. (PNA)
