Napocor energy sales up 5.89% in 2004

State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) has reported that its energy sales grew by 5.89 percent to 37,042.03 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2004, up from 34,980.18 GWh in 2003.

Napocor Sales and Services Group data showed that sales in the Luzon grid made a dramatic recovery, growing by a healthy 5.42 percent, or from 23,022.67 GWh in 2003 to 24,271.28 GWh last year.

Napocor’s energy sales to Meralco increased by 4.44 percent, or from 15,414.45 GWh in 2003 to 16,098.67 GWh last year.

Meralco which services the entire Metro Manila area and adjacent provinces accounted for the biggest share of Napocor’s total sales in Luzon at 66.32 percent.

The other customers who contributed to the higher sales in Luzon were utilities like the Pampanga II Electric Cooperative, Inc., the Clark Electric Distribution Corp., and the San Fernando Electric Light & Power Co., Inc., and industrial customers like the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in Bataan and Baguio City, and Megapack Container Corp.

Of the three major grids, Mindanao registered the highest growth in energy sales at 9.26 percent, or from 6,052.83 GWh in 2003 to 6,613.60 GWh last year.

The Napocor report attributed the increase in sales to a strong demand from large utilities like Davao Light and Power Co., Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company, and Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc., and to industrial customers like Global Steelworks International, Inc. (formerly National Steel Corp.), Mindanao Silicon Metal Corp., and the Maria Cristina Chemical Industries, Inc.

Sales in the Visayas rose by 9.07 percent, or from 3,762.92 GWh in 2003 to 4,104.41 GWh in 2004.

Among the biggest contributors to the Visayas sales were the Visayas Electric Co., Napocor’s single-biggest customer in the Visayas; Aboitiz Land, Inc.; the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.; Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc.; and Aklan Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Sales to the small island grids grew by an impressive 13.39 percent year-on-year, or from 425.18 GWh in 2003 to 482.10 GWh.

In terms of customer class, Napocor’s regular energy sales nationwide for 2004 were as follows: power utilities, 21,256.52 GWh; cooperatives, 10,677.55 GWh; industries, 2,810.02 GWh; and miscellaneous/government, 245.20 GWh.

On a per-month basis, Napocor recorded its highest sales in September, at 3,351.12 GWh. Sales were lowest in the month of January at 2,783.78 GWh.