Iligan firms fear losses due to power outages

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

SMALL and big companies in Iligan City express fear of huge losses due to power outages recently, radio report said Tuesday.

Reports said Iligan City is starting to experience rotating brownouts; the recent was on Monday with less than 30-minute power outage.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) had reported that it has resorted to power curtailment in Mindanao, which now has a deficit supply of 211 megawatts (MW) as of February 17.

A website report quoted NGCP spokesperson Bambi Capulong as saying that a power curtailment of up to 270 MW is being put in place, forcing power distributors in Mindanao to resort to power outages.

Mindanao has an existing capacity of 1,052 MW but has a demand of 1,263 MW, putting the deficit at 211 MW.

“And the only way to continuously make available power resources to different areas is to impose curtailment and it would mean power outages in most parts of the island,” Capulong said in a website publication.

Capulong said only Davao and Cagayan de Oro cities have so far not been affected by the power outages because of the sufficient resources of local power firms.

Davao City has a standby power plant, which helps avert blackouts.

Capulong said the cities of General Santos, Butuan, Cotabato, Iligan and Zamboanga and nearby provinces have been affected by the power curtailment.

Luzon, on the other hand, has a 1,656-MW reserve, while the Visayas has 369-MW reserve capacity, compared to Mindanao’s deficit of 211 MW.

Mindanao is dependent on hydroelectric power mainly generated by the Pulangi River in Bukidnon and Lake Lanao in Marawi City.

Power stakeholders have projected a severe power shortage in Mindanao in the next few years unless there are new investments, including the construction of coal-fired power plants.