TRADITIONAL or conventional energy sources are still necessary to maintain adequate power supply in the country, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan said on Monday.

He said during the company's first quarter media briefing that the country currently had very thin power reserves amid an ongoing El Niño.

"For my personal view, ever since we invested in Meralco, way back in 2009, we had stored reserves in the system, and they're supposed to be in a vibrant spot market. However, we can't do that due to a lack of available real and dependable capacities, and we're paying for that in terms of very, very thin reserves, and emergencies happening like this," Pangilinan said.

"And so you really have to build more capable, more capacities in the system. To be able to accommodate these, let's say unexpected changes that are now happening in power," he added.

One proof was said to be National Grid Corp. of the Philippines' again placing the Luzon and Visayas grids under yellow alert on Monday.

On conventional energy sources, Pangilinan said he was considering coal and gas plants to temporarily solve the problem of thin reserves. However, the Department of Energy (DoE) has put in place a moratorium on the establishment of new coal plants.

"Coal will always be the cheapest form of power, in terms of conventional sources, be the cheapest. But there will always be a price to pay for the decision to take in this business. So, gas is a bit of a compromised choice, but it is more expensive, right?," he said.

"We need conventional, dependable power plants, so that we don't get into these crazy situations when one particular large plant is down for its own reasons," he added.

And while Pangilinan said they would follow the DoE moratorium on coal plants, they would build such if the department allowed it again.

"There's got to be some guidance given to us as to where we should turn, but that's beyond my capability. But if they do allow us, we'll get into it," he added.

It was in 2020 that the DoE issued a moratorium on the development of new coal-fired power plants with the aim of reducing the country's dependence on coal.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla recently said that they did not see any reason to lift the moratorium as more than 4,000 megawatts of power supply was expected to come in to boost the country's overall power supply.

Ed Paolo Salting