ARMM, Zamboanga Sur villages get Php111M from Mirant for solar power

Some 148 remote, conflict-affected villages in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Zamboanga del Sur are set to be electrified with solar home systems funded by Mirant Philippines Foundation under the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program.

Mirant recently turned over 111 million pesos to Winrock International, the non-profit organization implementing AMORE, for the procurement of the systems through commercial bidding.

Mirant Philippines Chairman, President and CEO Jose Leviste, Jr. turned over the check to AMORE chief and former undersecretary Tetchi Cruz-Capellan in the presence of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Energy and Environment Chief Daniel Moore, and Mirant Philippines Foundation Executive Director Roberto Calingo.

AMORE is a partnership of USAID, the Department of Energy, Mirant Philippines Foundation, the ARMM, and Winrock International.

Sixty-three of the 148 villages that have been identified for electrification are in Sulu; 57 in Maguindanao; and 16 in Tawi-Tawi. Two of the remaining four unelectrified barangays in Basilan are also on the list, as are 10 villages in Zamboanga del Sur.

They were chosen from a DOE list of unelectrified barangays in Mindanao, which AMORE subjected to a baseline survey to ensure the chosen villages’ conformity to the project’s sustainability criteria.

These villages have remained unelectrified because they are too far to be connected to the power grid. AMORE will use stand-alone solar home systems to electrify some 4,500 households in these communities, and will organize and train the recipients to properly operate and maintain them as well as to raise the funds necessary to expand the electrification to more households.

“We laud Mirant for its staunch commitment to rural electrification and countryside development. We need more partners like it especially from the private sector to sustain the momentum of progress in Mindanao so as to give peace a chance,” said Capellan.