Energy firm assures power supply during elections

GREEN Core Geothermal Inc. assured Monday that massive and rotating brownouts won’t happen during the May 10 elections in Negros.

The Green Core Geothermal Inc., a subsidiary of Energy Development Corporation (EDC), assured no power outage in Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) and Victorias-Manapla Rural Electric Service Cooperative (VRESCO) in the northern Negros.

Click here for Election 2010 updates

Manny Candelaria, deputy manager of EDC said the Preventive Maintenance System (PMS) of the Unit 3 of Palinpinon Power Plant would be finished by April 28, two weeks before the May 10 polls.

Candelaria also explained that the brownouts should not be blamed on Ceneco and VRESCO as those were due to the PMS, which is a regular activity of the power plant for the smooth operation for the rest of the year.

EDC is the largest integrated geothermal energy company in the country.

Unit 3 of Palinpinon Power Plant has the capacity of 37 megawatts. Palinpinon Power Plant, which is composed of Plant I and II, has a total capacity of 173 megawatts.

Of the total capacity, Ceneco is the largest customer that gets the 49 percent of its total power supply, while VRESCO is getting 22 percent and Gaisano gets two percent.

However, Candelaria said that Green Core has currently no reserve capacity to cover for the power shortage, especially that it is doing the PMS.

With this, he said they need the help the electric cooperatives like Ceneco to look for replacement power. One such source is the diesel plant in Iloilo.

This year, Green Core scheduled three PMS for the Palinpinon plant and the next schedule would be on July and September.

Candelaria also said that during peak loads, usually in the afternoon and evening, Ceneco is short of some 20 megawatts.

He said that right now, since Ceneco’s contract to source power with the Palinpinon Geothermal Plant will end in December this year, Green Core has an ongoing talk with the electric cooperative.

Ceneco entered into a contract with the Kepco-Salcon Power to source the required power from the company’s coal fired powered plant in Naga. However, Candelaria explained that the power contract is not enough to cover the overall power requirement for Ceneco’s service areas.

Meanwhile, EDC spokesman Fernando Diaz said the company could not yet negotiate for any contract with Ceneco for the power generated from its Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant because it has not fully been operating.

He said maintenance work done by the company was delayed for about a year already due to the problem of calcite blockage. The plant temporarily closed its operation.

Right now, Diaz said the power plant is producing about 20 megawatts and sometimes even below 20, which are supplied in Iloilo (Ileco I).

Diaz also said Negros Occidental is their priority, that’s why they are thankful to have Palinpinon and Tongonan 3 Plant in Leyte that also supply power for the province. (TED)