Training on Rural Electrification Planning at Household Level Using GIS-Based Tools/Techniques

BatelecGeographical Information System (GIS) based approaches offer very interesting opportunities for least cost planning of rural electrification down to household level which is essential as the Philippines has almost reached 100% barangay electrification level which is the most costly.

As part of the SWITCH Policy Support initiative funded by the EU, a technical training on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the purpose of “Households electrification planning in remote areas” was conducted in Philippines during April 2015. The training, mainly held in Manila targeted Department of Energy (DOE), National Power Corporation (NPC-SPUG) and National Electrification Administration (NEA) staff.

The 8 days training, organized by DOE and conducted by IED, was divided into 3 phases:

1-     An informational workshop wherein IED presented various possible GIS applications applied to the energy sector particularly dedicated for Households electrification planning purposes.

2- A technical GIS training targeting 13 participants from the above institutions and from Batelec II was done at DOE’s office for the next days. A practical case study was performed by participants using GIS software and real provincial data. This phase included both theoretical lectures and practical exercises.

3- A field work focused on practical use of GPS. The Batangas cooperative BATELEC II, represented by its General Manager Octavio Mendoza, kindly welcomed and supported the group for this 3 days phase. The on-field work was focused on collecting points related to electrical infrastructures using GPS devices and then integrating gathered data into a GIS database.