STEAG State Power Inc. (SPI) has completed the preventive maintenance of the 105-megawatt (MW) Unit 1 of the 210 MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant days before its self-imposed March 16 deadline boosting the power supply of the Mindanao grid.
Unit 1 went off line for a planned preventive maintenance beginning February 21 and was synchronized to the Mindanao grid on March 12 at around 12:25 pm, four days earlier than the deadline of March 16.
“With our full capacity now made available, we expect the power supply condition in Mindanao to improve” said Dr. Bodo Goerlich, SPI President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in an emailed statement.
He said the timely conduct of the preventive maintenance and restoration of the units is "just in time for the onset of the summer months and could provide a major relief to the volatile power supply condition of the island."
“We are confident that with our units now back on line, Mindanao is more prepared to meet its electric supply needs especially during the summer months where demand usually is at its peak,” Goerlich said.
SPI power plant manager Dr. Carsten Evers said the preventive maintenance works "need to be carried out periodically to sustain optimum efficiency and reliability of the electric generating units."
"The preventive maintenance schedule was also carefully planned, scheduled and coordinated with key players in the power industry including the grid operator, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), to minimize any adverse impact to the Mindanao grid," SPI said in a statement.
Earlier, 105 MW Unit 2 also went offline for preventive maintenance beginning February 19 and was restored back to the grid on March 2 as scheduled.
The shutting down of the two power plants forced the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) to enforce rotational brownouts from February 21 to March 2, when both units of the SPI 210 MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant were shut down, due to low power supply.
As of 12:30 p.m. Friday, NGCP data showed that Mindanao had an available capacity of 1,429 MW and a peak demand of 1,371 MW, resulting to a reserve of 58 MW.