March 01, 2021 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
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EconomyPower supply shortage seen worsening in SouthPosted on February 24, 2012 CAGAYAN DE ORO -- Limited power generation capacity amid a growing demand is not about to improve worsening blackouts in Mindanao even as officials expect a widening deficiency into the summer months.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the private sector operator of the state-owned transmission grid, is projecting an average shortage of 179 megawatts (MW) for the island next month to as high as 345 MW in April.
In a power sector forum organized by the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. on Monday, Eugene H. Bicar, assistant vice-president for Mindanao systems operations of NGCP, showed that from the 727 MW of installed capacity, the current peak capability of the Agus hydropower plants is only 467 MW. The lower output can be traced to several issues, officials said. Pedro C. Ambos, Jr., National Power Corp. (Napocor) officer-in-charge for operation and planning, explained in the same forum that the state power firm could not operate the hydropower plants at maximum capacity as the discharge of water that will allow such output will flood low-lying areas in Lanao del Sur province where the plants are located. Agus 1, for example, is limited to 45 MW from its 80-MW installed capacity, even as the power needs of the distribution utilities in the last quarter have outstripped the allocation in their contracts with Napocor, he said. Mr. Ambos also admitted that Napocor’s funds for maintenance and operations have been cut in preparation for the planned privatization of the power plants. Construction of infrastructure to protect communities from possible flooding, he added, is being undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways. NGCP’s Mr. Bicar, for his part, stated the company’s position that Mindanao’s power woes are due to generation deficiency and not due to failure to renew Ancillary Service Procurement Agreement with power barges. "We could not construct a power plant," he said. The island’s normal power requirement ranges from 1,400 MW during weekdays to 1,200 MW on weekends. As of yesterday, NGCP’s Web site showed a 130-MW deficiency, or roughly 10.4% of the day’s demand. Two years ago, at the height of a dry spell, the island’s power deficiency reached as high as 600 MW resulting in power outages as long as 10 hours daily in many parts of the island. Independent power producers as well as backup plants of some utilities have cushioned the impact of the problem in urban centers, specifically in Davao, where the outage in 2010 was downscaled to two hours daily from the projected four hours. Meanwhile, the Mindanao Coalition of Power Consumers has sent out a petition to discontinue the implementation of the Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project of the NGCP. "We believe that there is no need to carry out the phase 1 work, despite its approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission, as it is no longer economically feasible to carry out the main project itself," the petition reads. The coalition noted that the project was deemed feasible in the mid-’90s when power was considered to be transmitted from the geothermal plants in Leyte. However, with the present power requirements in Luzon and the Visayas, the power generated in Leyte would not be enough to supply Mindanao as well. "And for the next 10 years, no assurance can be given by the NGCP, or anyone else, as to the availability of relatively cheap power from the Visayas for export to Mindanao through the (Leyte-Mindanao interconnection project)," the group said. "Therefore, Mindanao would not get adequate economic benefits from the construction of the (interconnection project). NGCP officials were not immediately available for comment. POWER CURTAILMENT Due to insufficient power supply in the Mindanao grid, meanwhile, residential and business establishments in General Santos City and two neighboring provinces will have to suffer daily rotating one-hour outages for about two weeks, an official said. HIGHER RATES In Davao City, customers of the Aboitiz-led Davao Light and Power Co. will pay an additional P0.2276 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this month as Napocor started to impose its so-called dry season rate. |
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