Power lack in Mindanao - Business Mirror

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla / Reporter

WHILE consumers and industries in Luzon braced for possible rotating brownouts, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), in its late Monday update, showed that the Luzon grid has had some reserves to meet demand for electricity.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, NGCP said Luzon actually had a surplus of 246 megawatts (MW) from its available capacity of 6,980 MW and a projected peak demand of 6,734 MW.

Meanwhile, NGCP pointed out that the Mindanao grid had available capacity of 805 MW that was outpaced by the power demand of 1,437 MW.

It said the Mindanao grid had generation deficiency of 632 MW yesterday due to the inadequate available capacities from the grid’s main power sources, such as the National Power Corp.’s hydropower plants where the reservoirs are all drying up due to El Niño.

Earlier, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) had advised its customers that there would be a rotational brownout yesterday between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. due to the insufficient capacity of the power-generation suppliers.

Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco external communications head, told the BusinessMirror that the firm did not implement the scheduled rotating brownouts since the NGCP had advised that there was already enough supply.

“Hopefully, the situation will be better today [Tuesday] considering the ample supply NGCP had noted yesterday,” he added.

NGCP said Korea Electric Power Corp.’s (Kepco) Ilijan power plant was expected to start generating electricity last night.

NGCP added that Ilijan is currently contributing a total of 900 MW and that another 300 MW is expected to be generated by Ilijan Block A within yesterday.

NGCP noted that First Gas Power Corp.’s Sta. Rita units 10 and 30, which generate around 250 MW each, San Miguel Energy Corp.’s Limay unit 2 with a capacity of 90 MW and Kepco-Philippines Corp.’s (Kephilco) Malaya unit 1 and 2 at 300 MW and 350 MW, respectively, still remained unavailable yesterday.

Ernesto Pantangco, First Gen Corp. senior vice president, told reporters that the two units of Sta. Rita were scheduled for shutdown and will begin generating electricity either by yesterday or today.

Except for the two units, Pantangco quickly clarified that their natural gas-fired power plants—1,000-MW Sta. Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas-fired power plants—are generating a total of 1,000-MW.

NGCP said the Visayas grid also continued to experience an increase in power-supply deficiency last night of 163 MW due to the shutdown of Cebu Diesel Power Plant, which used to supply a total of 25 MW on the island.

NGCP said Cebu Energy Development Corp. and Leyte Geothermal Power Plant (LGPP) unit 2, which is owned and operated by Green Core Power, are still on emergency shutdown.

It said the available capacity and peak demand stood at 1,060 MW and 1,223 MW, respectively, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the business community in Mindanao is still waiting for the government’s action to solve the power crisis following the President’s move placing the entire island under a state of calamity.

“The business sector in Mindanao is still awaiting for specific actions that the President may undertake,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) vice president for Mindanao Edwin Capili told  select journalists during the launching of the 19th Mindanao Business Conference at the Grand Caprice Restaurant over the weekend.

Ralph Jaime Paguio, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc., said the business sector is very interested in the government’s plans in mitigating, if not solving, the perennial power shortages in Mindanao.

“We are also very interested in government’s plans both for energy security and peace and order,” he said.    

PCCI chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. scored the government for not acting on the business community’s warning in 2007 about the impending power crisis to hit the country in 2011.

“In 2007, we already warned the government about the     impending shortage of power by 2011, and nothing has been done to avert the disaster,” Ortiz said.

Kristine Lim, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general for Northern Mindanao, said the President’s declaration of a state of calamity in Mindanao last week was a “very late reaction.”    

“We have foreseen [the] El Niño phenomenon [will occur] four years ago, yet measures to prepare us  for this were not taken. It has become a habit of this government to let the farmers and the people suffer for its lack of action,” she said.   (With B. Fabe)