THE power crisis in many parts of Mindanao is worsening by the day as the island suffers from generation deficiency of 380 MW as of last February 27. And that’s mainly due to the critical water level in Lake Lanao and the Pulangi River whose waters run the turbines of the major hydro electric plants in the island region.
This alarming bit of information is based on the power grid status report released by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
The available capacity of the Mindanao grid is pegged at 810 MW, but the peak demand is set at 1,190 MW. In contrast, the Luzon grid continues to enjoy a reserve of 1,055 MW due to the increased capacity of the Malaya Thermal Plant (Unit 2) operated by Kepco Philippines.
“The high reserves ensure that the Luzon grid will remain stable and under normal status for now. Provided all running power plants stay connected and synchronized to the grid, there won’t be any outages among Luzon grid customers,” the NGCP reported.
The Visayas grid has also improved and now has reserves of up to 31 MW. According to NGCP, the available capacity in the grid has increased due to the coming in of Salcon Power’s Cebu Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 which is now loaded with 50 MW.
The Mindanao grid, however, will continue to experience generation deficiency of up to 380 MW, which will force the system to curtail the power load for its customers.
With the onset of the El Niño phenomenon, the water elevation of Lake Lanao and Pulangi River has dropped to critical levels. These are the sources of water that drive the turbines of major hydro-electric plants like the Agus and Pulangi.
“The prevailing generation deficiency in Mindanao is attributed to limited available capacities from hydro power plants, most of which have water reservoirs that are drying up due to the El Niño,” said the power transmission utility and system operator.
It added that the National Power Corporation’s (Napocor) Agus Plants have a total available capacity of 145 MW out of the total rated capacity of 727 MW while the Pulangi Plant, also owned by Napocor, is running at 100 MW out of the total rated capacity of 255 MW.
“NGCP will continue to monitor power grid conditions. As system operator, it oversees the power system or grid in accordance with the Philippine Grid Code. It is also the country’s only utility responsible for transmitting high-voltage power from generators to distributors. NGCP does not own nor operate and maintain power generation and distribution facilities,” it clarified.
Curtailment
With NGCP’s power curtailment, power distribution companies and cooperatives across Mindanao are forced to resort to cutting power supply to their respective customers, some even for as long as eight hours.
In Davao City, the duration of the rotating power outages that are implemented in the areas within the franchise of Davao Light have been lengthened from 30-minutes to one hour per area serviced by a feeder in a given substation starting last Wednesday.
Davao Light corporate communications officer Ross Luga said the increase in the duration of the outages is due to the much reduced generation capacity of the hydro electric plants in Lake Lanao, Lanao del Sur and Pulangi River in Bukidnon upon the advice of the NGCP.
“This is the result of the very low water elevation in the lake and decreasing water inflow to Pulangi River. This condition at the major power sources has forced the NGCP to increase its load curtailment to Davao Light,” he said.
Last Wednesday, starting at 8:00 a.m., NGCP imposed a 78-megawatt (MW) curtailment on Davao Light’s franchise area. The 45 MW generated by the company’s standby power plant had been insufficient in the previous days to the need to make up for the curtailed load.
Davao Light’s franchise areas include the entire Davao City, the Davao del Norte areas of Panabo City and the neighboring municipalities of Carmen, Dujali and Sto. Tomas.
Better off
DLPC’s customers, however, are considered luckier that those who are residing in Butuan City which has imposed eight-hour power outages; Zamboanga City which has five-hour brownouts; the cities of General Santos and Cagayan de Oro which, as of this writing, have to undergo four-hour brownouts daily.
Luga said DLPC’s customers are spared from similar long brownouts, thanks to its stand-by Bajada Power Plant. “This facility is able to operate at a sustained level of 40 MW. It is only when Davao Light’s curtailment exceeds 40MW when brownouts have to be resorted to,” he said.
“Commercial and industrial activities have not been disrupted and, as result, the economic conditions within Davao Light’s franchise have not been adversely affected,” Luga added.
Curative measures
Meanwhile, the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) is pushing for curative measures to address the power problem in Mindanao.
DCCCII president, Engr. Robert Quinto, said the chamber is strongly supporting the Mindanao Electric Power Alliance (MEPA) in pushing for the development of an energy source in Iligan City which has been on standby due to some problems.
He said if pursued, the project would provide 100 megawatts in additional power supply for Mindanao.
DCCCII is also supporting MEPA’s stand for the continuing maintenance of hydroelectric power plants to ensure sufficient power supply.
Quinto said the ongoing Maramag-Pulangi transmission line project should also be fast-tracked, and a massive cleaning up of the Pulangi Hydro power plant should be done to restore its efficiency. The cleanup is made necessary due to siltation, he said.
MEPA was formed to provide a venue for information exchange and cooperation on power generation among the cities in Mindanao.
Quinto said DCCCII is supporting the entry of new power industry investors, adding that cheap power rate is one of the reported stumbling blocks to new power investments in Mindanao.
The El Niño weather disturbance is expected to worsen the already critical power supply in Mindanao as water levels in the hydropower plants continue to be depleted.
Short-term
On the other hand, power firms also urge the government to come up with short-term solutions to address the power crisis as El Niño threatens to dry up water levels in the Agus and Pulangi hydro-electric plants, among the main sources of energy in Mindanao.
Manuel Orig, DLPC executive vice president, said, “Given the magnitude of the power deficiency of more than 500 megawatts (MW) for the whole of Mindanao and the weather bureau’s forecast of a dry spell lasting until June this year, even the rehabilitation of all inactive power plants will not be enough.”
“To really come up with a realistic short-term measure to this problem, you need to put up base load capacity of at least 300 mega-watts between now and July, otherwise the whole of Mindanao will not have power half of the time,” Orig said in a meeting with representatives from the NGCP, power firm executives, electric cooperatives, tourism and business sectors and local government officials.
He cited the power crisis in 2004 when the National Power Corporation required temporary power to ease blackouts affecting more than three million people on Panay Island. The state-owned company signed a deal with Aggreko, which constructed a baseload plant in less than 40 days after the signing of contract.
Joseph Lopez of the Alsons Power Group said the Aggreko is known internationally as a quick-fix service provider of any power needs, although the generation cost might increase to P19 per kilowatt-hour because its plants are operated by high-speed diesel engines.
“Such is the experience in Palawan, Panay and all other places where the rate of P19/kilowatt-hour was imposed,” Lopez said.
He said it is the kind of power generation that can be put up quickly and no longer requires the putting up of sub-stations. This solution is acceptable, but the consuming public must be informed of the higher cost of electricity.
Joseph C, Nocos, vice president of the Conal Holdings Corporation, suggested the tapping of large immediate power providers to temporarily address the crisis until the rains come by the third quarter of this year.
He said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) can allow an aggregator to buy power from providers who can set up generating sets that will address the supply and demand gap.
Nocos said the business sector, power distributors and government representatives must immediately discuss this option considering that the power situation in Mindanao is already in “critical condition.” [WITH PNA REPORT]
