Achieving Energy Self-Sufficiency: An Electricity Supply Analysis of Negros Island Region, Philippines

The urgency to transition to renewable energy sources serves as a motivation to analyze energy systems. This study looks into the electricity supply of the Negros Island Region in the Philippines, focusing on the underutilization of locally available renewable energy sources. It explores scenarios where the island relies solely on its local energy resources, emphasizing the need for increased storage unit capacity and flexibility of power plants. The energy system was modeled using PyPSA with data from 2022. Results show that in one scenario, renewable energy sources could supply most of the region's electricity demand, but around 35% is still sourced from a local diesel power plant. The second scenario which considers 100% renewable energy sources requires the expansion of the BESS in the region to store electricity from geothermal energy. This shows that despite the abundance of solar energy, the model was optimized towards geothermal energy for flexibility and economic considerations.