Thursday, May 31, 2007 Power use soars nationwide in 1st quarter
THE National Transmission Corporation (Transco) said power supply went up by nearly nine percent during the first three months of the year.
Transco corporate planning reported that power delivered to distributors from January to March increased by 8.6 percent from 24,854 megawatt (MW)-months to 26,700 MW-months.
Power delivery service measured in MW-months refers to the sum of Transco's monthly billing demands for 2007.
Electricity delivered to the Luzon grid reached 20,162.9 MW-month or a 9.9 percent increase from the previous year's level of 18,352.6 MW-month.
In the Visayas and Mindanao grids, power supply also went up by 4.6 percent and 5.6 percent respectively.
Transco said 77 percent of total power delivered in the first quarter came from the National Power Corporation (Napocor) and its independent power producers (IPPs) while the rest came from the three IPPs supplying Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and other generating units in Luzon and Visayas.
Meralco's demand for power delivery service for the Luzon grid increased by 15 percent due to an increase in the demand for electricity in its franchise area, which includes Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, and Cavite, and parts of Laguna, Quezon, Batangas, and Pampanga.
Meralco accounts for 73 percent of Transco's total delivery in Luzon while 60 percent of Meralco's power supply comes from Napocor and its IPPs and the remaining 40 percent is supplied by the three Meralco IPPs.
On the other hand, Transco's total power delivery to other distribution utilities (DUs) posted less than one percent.
Distribution utilities in the northern part of Luzon posted positive growth while those in the southern areas recorded reduced power consumption, Transco said.
Transco attributed the decrease to the series of typhoons that hit the country in the latter part of 2006 and damaged major transmission lines.
For non-utility customers, power delivery service requirements went up slightly by 2.5 percent. The minimal growth was due to lower than expected demands from Transco's major customers in the steel and chemical industries.
Economic zone customers, meanwhile, posted a combined demand of 493.5 MW-mo., or a decline of 12.7 percent in their power requirements quarter-on-quarter.
In the Visayas grid, Transco delivered 2,945.1 MW-month of power. The power delivery up-tick is attributed to the increase in demand of domestic users, particularly the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) and Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
In the Mindanao grid, power delivery was at 3,891.9 MW-month because of the increase in the demands of domestic and industrial users. (MSN/Sunnex)
