SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to come up with contingency plans to ensure steady supply of electricity amid warmer weather conditions intensified by the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

The country is expected to experience the peak of the El Niño phenomenon in the summer months, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

The vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Gatchalian noted that in 2022, about 9% of the country’s power capacity was generated from hydroelectric power plants.

“El Niño is going to be a big concern for our country not just in terms of food security but also energy security. A big chunk of our hydro areas will be experiencing drought, and their output will be curtailed which will have an impact on some parts of the country, so we need to have a contingency plan for that especially during the hot months,” he said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

To cushion the impact of drier weather conditions, the energy department needs to ensure that all the necessary repairs and preventive maintenance will be undertaken before the peak of the summer months to prevent unforeseen outages, according to Gatchalian.

“All the preventive maintenance should be done now so that when the summer months come, the plants will be running at full capacity and the DOE needs to monitor this very carefully,” he said.

The legislator emphasized that power plants are particularly vulnerable to breakdowns during summer months amid high demand and the energy department needs to ensure that no unscheduled outage takes place to ensure a steady supply of electricity.

The damage to agriculture due to the impact of El Niño has already reached over P1 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said recently.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Camille P. Balagtas