UP, PhilSA to help identify areas without electricity

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines will use satellites built by engineers and scientists of the UP Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute to help the National Electrification Administration (NEA) identify areas in the country that remain without electricity.

UP president Angelo Jimenez said that the project will primarily involve three agencies – NEA, UP and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).

He said that NEA will provide funding for the project as the implementing agency while PhilSA will provide support to the satellite building effort.

In the agreement with UP signed last Jan. 18, the parties pledged to collaborate for the construction of a geographical information system (GIS) database and other analytical tools to increase the capability of NEA and electric cooperatives in identifying and verifying households with little or no access to electricity.

GIS technologies are widely considered crucial in the energy distribution sector due to their problem-solving capabilities, such as determining the most ideal route for power distribution lines, on top of detecting real-time demographic changes in certain locations.

The NEA-UP partnership covers the provision of technical assistance and data sharing, among other collaborative projects.

NEA is currently implementing a three-pronged approach in its last mile electrification to achieve its target by 2028.