DOE, 6 power firms assure blackout-free May 9 polls

The Department of Energy (DOE) assured Davao businessmen that there will be no power interruption seven days before and after the May 9 national and local election.“The reservoir for the hydroelectric power plants will be releasing more water during the election to ensure stable power supply in the Mindanao grid,” Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) president Bonifacio Tan told reporters last Friday.
Currently, Mindanao’s major hydroelectric powers plants are producing lesser power due to low water elevation in its reservoirs due to the long drought which is expected to end by June.
Tan said the seven day prior and after the election is the most crucial period which needs stable power supply.
To ensure a stable situation throughout the election period, the DOE released department circular no. 2016-01-001 mandating the creation of Power Task Force Election 2016 which headed by the energy department.
Darwin Galang, section chief for the electric power industry management section from the Mindanao field office of the DOE, said among the task force’s core group members are the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, National Electrification Authority, National Power Corporation, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM), distribution utilities and MERALCO.
The task force will implement action plans and contingency measures in preparation for the 2016 election. The team also went around the country to gather the pledges of different stakeholders in the power sector to ensure their participation in the goal of the national government of having the election blackout-free
Meanwhile, based on the April 26 daily operation report of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the peak demand for Mindanao reached 1,505 megawatts (MW), while the grid had only 1,525MW system capacity.
Galang presented during this month’s general membership meeting of the DCCCII at the Royal Mandaya Hotel last Friday that power supplied from hydro electric power plants is decreasing due to the El Niño. At present, the Agus-Pulangi complexes is only producing 224.9 megawatt (MW) out of its more than 900MW installed capacity.
Galang reported that 47 .61 percent of Mindanao’s capacity mix is coming from hydropower plants, while 19.44 percent comes from coal-fired power plants.
However, Mindanao’s generation mix will be dominated by power supply from coal-fired plants by the end of 2016 due to the entry of more power plants like of the San Miguel Corporation in Malita and of the Saranggani Energy Corporation. CHENEEN R. CAPON