DLPC explains blackouts, better situation starts on April 20

Dabawenyos are suffering five hours of daily rotating power interruption until April 20 because of unstable power supply, an official of Davao Light and Power Co. Inc. (DLPC) said.
Arturo M. Milan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of DLPC, said the distribution utility is implementing four-hour duration of power interruption during peak hours because of low power supply while another one-hour power outage is implemented between 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
“It was caused by the derated (decreased) power supply from major hydropower plants in Mindanao due to El Niño,” Milan told reporters at the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao Annex yesterday.
Milan said that of the 982-megawatt (MW) installed capacity of the Agus-Pulangi Hydro Complex, only 108MW is produced because of the lower water elevation level now in Lake Lanao.
“For instance, Pulangi 4 is only producing 24MW out of its 255MW installed capacity. On average, the plant is producing between 100MW and 120MW,” he added.
As of yesterday, other hydro power plants, including the 158MW Agus 4 was just supplying 24MW; 55MW Agus 5 with only 10MW; 200MW Agus 6 with only 40MW; and the 54MW Agus 7 with only 10MW. He said Agus 1 and 2 remained isolated due to the problem of vegetation.
“Personnel of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines cannot enter the area where the problem of vegetation was reported,” Milan added.
The Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex remained to be the main source of cheap power in Mindanao. However, due to the long drought the power supply coming from these decades-old plants is decreasing, he said.
Milan said the supply coming from the 300MW coal-fired power plant is not enough to supply the Mindanao grid. Moreover, one of the two units of the TSI is under repair after being damaged last week.
The TSI announced that the repair, which started last April 7, will be finished by April 20, Wednesday.
Sebastian R. Lacson, president and chief operating officer (COO) of TSI, said earlier that investigation revealed that the damaged unit had a boiler tube leak.
Meanwhile, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) president Bonifacio T. Tan said the businesses in Davao City are burdened by the rotating power blackouts.
“The most affected are those enterprises that are into manufacturing,” Tan said. However, he said the chamber has still no estimates as to how much are the businesses here are losing because of the unstable power situation. CHENEEN R. CAPON