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Friday, April 11, 2008
Insufficient power supply causes more brownouts
By Karl G. Ombion
BACOLOD CITY -- The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) has advised the public to take extra precautions and expect regular brownouts every day from 5 to 8 p.m.
Ceneco president Roberto Montelibano Jr. said the brownouts experienced by consumers daily are caused by the load shedding efforts of Ceneco due to insufficient supply coming from the Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant in Negros Oriental.
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"There is an ongoing repair and maintenance work on Palinpinon Power Plant number 3 (PPP3) and the remaining source of electricity distributed to different electric distributors is not sufficient to answer the power demands during peak hours," Montelibano said.
He also said the geothermal wells and power generating plants run by the Philippine National Oil Corporation-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) in Palinpinon are more than 25 years old and should have been shut down for repairs two years ago.
"When electricity coming from the source is insufficient, electric distributors like Ceneco usually impose load shedding or shut off in some areas of the electric supply to avoid systems failure or total blackout," he explained.
Last March, Ceneco registered between five megawatts to 25-megawatt power supply deficit, which translated into long brownouts, particularly during peak hours.
Repair and rehabilitation work on PPP3 is to be completed by April 23. But the National Power Corporation did not give any guarantee that there will be no more brownouts after the repairs, said Montelibano.
He explained that other than the damages in PPP3, there is currently a power crisis in the region due to the insufficiency of power generated by electricity producers. With no backup source, brownouts or blackouts are inevitable.
Ceneco is currently sourcing out other possible power source, Montelibano said.
"We signed a power purchase sales contract with Kepco Salcon Power Corporation and First Farmers Holding Corporation to make sure that we have enough electric supply to meet the demands of the consumers," he added.
Montelibano also said the North Negros Geothermal Power Plant of the PNOC-EDC in Barangay Mailum, Bago City, is not a reliable source and could only generate around four to five megawatts of electricity.
"That power plant should be shut down because it is not worth operating it," Montelibano reiterated, adding that during its inaugural operation, the plant only generated around 29 megawatts of electricity instead of the supposed 49-megawatt projection.
This is the reason why PNOC-EDC is pushing for its entry inside the buffer zone of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park to explore potential steam that could generate the targeted 49 megawatts of electricity, Montelibano said.
He said: "Constructing a new geothermal well inside the buffer zone would need another P2-billion and the project would take around two years to finish"
Montelibano meanwhile appealed for consumers' understanding and urged them to reduce power consumption during peak hours to avoid possible load shedding and brownouts. (Sun.Star Bacolod/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (April 11, 2008 issue)
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