DOE explores power solutions for Pax Silica
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin on Tuesday assured the public that domestic electricity supply will not be “at a disadvantage” as the government backs the development of a United States-led Pax Silica hub in Tarlac.
The project is an artificial intelligence (AI)-focused industrial enclave expected to require at least 3,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
Garin said the Department of Energy (DOE) has started drafting a circular to establish how the market could power a massive data hub.
Whether the Pax Silica complex—which is expected to house high-technology facilities including data centers—would require 50 MW, 100 MW or 5,000 MW, Garin said the country has the capacity to deliver the supply.
“We just need to make sure that anything we do to power a data center or hub will not put the rest of the country at a disadvantage. Our consumers will have protection,” she told reporters in a media briefing.
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said the easiest way to energize Pax Silica is to have embedded generation, allowing generation firms to construct power plants within the area instead of getting the electricity from distant places.
“We need to be able to secure the commitment of these locators in Pax Silica because any generator, to put up a plant, will need 20 years to recover the costs of their investment,” she said.
“So if we can have those locators, promise that they will be there for 20 years, we are sure that we can find generators who will also supply electricity to Pax Silica,” Guevara added.
Aside from that, she said the DOE was also looking at including Pax Silica’s power requirements—such as the needed transmission, distribution and generation facilities—under the government’s national energy plan.
The Philippines has designated a 1,620-hectare site in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, as the proposed location of an AI and advanced manufacturing hub under Pax Silica.
The hub is seen to bring in up to P180 billion in total revenues per year and generate almost 200,000 jobs for Filipinos, according to the Bases and Conversion Development Authority.
