Power operator sees no brownout in Luzon this week

ASSUMING that no two plants will shutdown this week, supply of electricity in the Luzon grid will be uninterrupted, said a National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) systems operator.

NGCP said that peak demand in Luzon grid for the period March 6 to 11 is expected to reach 6,890 MW. However, supply will remain lean due to the ongoing maintenance and repair of Sta. Rita M30 and M10 owned by First Gas Power Corp. until March 7.

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Likewise, contributory to the very thin supply reserves in the Luzon grid is the maintenance shutdown of Iligan Block B until March 7 and Iligan Block A until March 11, both owned by Kepco Ilijan Corp. (Keilco), as well as the ongoing maintenance of Malampaya SPEX (owned by Shell Phils. Exploration) with expected date of completion by March 11 and the forced outage of Batangas Coal-Fired Plant Unit 1 owned by DMCI Holdings Inc. until March 12 due to technical problems in the plant equipment.

But NGCP said it expects units 1 and 2 of the Malaya plants operated by Kepco Philippines will be online this week to help augment the power supply.

In the Visayas, peak demand for Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid is forecasted to reach 1,022 MW, Leyte-Samar Grid at 172 MW, and Bohol grid at 53 MW.

System reserve, NGCP noted, will continue to be thin this week in spite of the continuing reliability test of Cebu Energy Development Corporation’s (CEDC) unit 1 due to the maintenance shutdown of Cebu Thermal Power Plant unit 2 operated by Salcon Power Corp.

Visayas will also experience brownouts this week with the load dropping to be implemented due to the continuing low voltage problem in the Cebu-Negros-Panay region.

In Mindanao, peak demand is expected to reach 1, 459 MW in the coming week.

Although generation deficiency is expected to drop to an average of 688 MW from 700MW this weekend, power interruption is still expected in the area as the system will be forced to implement manual load dropping due to the deficit in generation after hydro plants capabilities average only 210 MW in the coming week due to low water elevation at the reservoirs.

Rent power barges

To boost electric supply, deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said Malacañang lawyers are looking at the possibility of leasing or renting power barges or generating plants without having to seek congressional approval or intervention.

Olivar, in an interview by Radyo ng Bayan, said the government must explore measures to increase power supply, especially in Mindanao, without involving allies in Congress following realities that establishing a quorum may already be difficult at this time.

He said even Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles already admitted that they may have difficulty establishing a quorum since majority of their members are already engaged or preparing for the campaign.

He added that there are legal opinions saying that since the government is only planning to lease or rent barges or power plants, it may be done without Congress.

“It is possible, some lawyers might say you can do that even without a special session but I think, let us call that an aggressive legal opinion so this should be decided upon by the President,” Olivar said.

Under section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Restructuring Act of 2001, the President may declare a power crisis and upon the determination “of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

This would enable the government to lease or rent generator sets (gensets) and barges or negotiate short-term power supply contracts to increase the generating capacity in the affected areas like Mindanao.

Olivar said the lease or rental of power barges would not mean the government is acquiring or purchasing them.

He added it would also mean a temporary use of the barges until the power problem in Mindanao.

He added that the Executive would still determine if a special session is still needed or if the President could go about the implementation of the measure on its own.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes on February 27 recommended the declaration of a power crisis in Mindanao including the leasing or -rental of 160 megawatt (MW) gensets; the operation and maintenance of the Alsons Corp.’s 30-MW Iligan Diesel Power Plant 1 (IDPP); entering into an operation and maintenance agreement with Alsons Corp. for the 70MW IDPP2; and entering into a contract on an additional five MW from Southern Philippines Power Corp. (MW) - which is jointly owned by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Conal Holdings Corp., and Tomen Power Corp. of Singapore.

Reyes said cost of these measures, was placed by the National Power Corp. (NPC), at P8 billion to P10 billion wherein the leasing or rental would depend on the length of the dry spell or until the rainy season starts in July.

Olivar acknowledged that regardless of what the government decides, they would still be criticized by the opposition.

He said the power situation along with the El Nino situation is likely to be tackled in the next Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which would now be held in Manila instead of Sulu as earlier planned by the President.

Olivar urged everyone to do their share in conserving power and water especially with the El Nino problem.

He urged the public to be more discerning especially of political leaders who would use even the current water and power problems to further their own ambitions. (MSN/JMR/Sunnex)