The National Electrification Administration (NEA), Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and the University of the Philippines (UP) has started preparations to map out the unserved and underserved rural electrification areas in the country.
Representatives of the three agencies held a virtual meeting on Wednesday for the creation of a technical working group that will identify these areas in support of the government’s goal towards achieving 100-percent household electrification by 2028.
PhilSA and UP shared strategies and methodologies during the meeting to aid in data gathering and processing such as AI-based Identification, Night Life Analysis and Satellite Acquisition to assist the agency and the electric cooperatives (ECs) to identify household or areas that has no access to electricity.
“The progressive efforts of the NEA aim to strengthen government electrification programs to advance national development while improving the quality of life of every Filipino,” NEA said.
NEA previously signed separate memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with PhilSA and UP to utilize satellite technology and data to determine the unserved and underserved locations that require the installation of electricity services.
UP and NEA also signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to jointly conduct research, trainings, and other programs aimed developing the technical skills of EC engineers and employees through UP’s National Engineering Center (NEC) and the NEA-EC Training Institute (NETI).