CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines -- After more than two weeks of being shut down, the Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) is now being operated by the National Power Corporation to help ease power supply shortage in Mindanao.
Around 11 a.m. Monday, the 35-megawatt power plant was “heating up” and was scheduled to be on-stream in the Mindanao grid around noontime, said Pedro Ambos, division manager for generation and performance of Napocor’s Mindanao Generation unit.
But the plant would provide only 30 megawatts to the Mindanao grid, added Ambos.
The IDPP has not been in operation since early February, when water levels in dams, on which hydropower facilities depend, went down due to the dry spell.
A Monday morning advisory from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the power deficiency of Mindanao at 390 megawatts for the entire day.
This is the worst since the power crisis began last month.
NGCP noted that there has been an 80 percent reduction in the capabilities of Napocor’s Agus hydro-electric power plants. Its Pulangi plants also experience 90 percent reduction in capabilities.
“It’s getting worse everyday,” observed Ambos, referring to the continuing decline of hydro-power generation capacity.
Ambos said that as of Monday morning, the water level in Lake Lanao was at 699.07 meters, already below the critical point of 699.15 meters. At this level, plant engineers reported that some silt had entered the turbines, Ambos revealed.
If the water level further fell down to 698.15 meters, Ambos said, the Napocor would implement a forced shutdown of the plants to protect them from damage.
Apart from the continuing decline in hydroelectric power generation capability, the non-availability of Power Barge 117, with a capacity of 100 MW, has exacerbated the problem, said the NGCP.
According to Ambos, Power Barge 117, along with Power Barge 118, is now owned by the Aboitiz Group, and Napocor no longer has discretion over when to have it on-stream in the Mindanao grid.
Ambos disclosed that the remaining power generation capability for Napocor at this stage is the
Apart from the IDPP, only the 54-megawatt IDPP 2 was left with Napocor, but it would need reconditioning as this has not operated for some three years now.
this power crisis is a disgrace in the 21st century .it seems the power industry has not taken into account the increased population and the increased need for power by the public and businesses .this spans many years of mismanagment .and the misuse of funds a building program should have been in place but maybe the funds have been embezled and filtered away as is the case with other industries .the power companys should hang their heads in shame for bringing thus country into the realms of gross embarasment
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