By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star) Updated April 04, 2012 12:00 AM
DAVAO CITY , Philippines– Businessmen have complained of losses due to the worsening power crisis in Mindanao.
Mindanao Business Council chairman Vicente Lao, in an interview with The STAR, however refused to give any estimate of the losses at this time.
“I understand there have already been losses and we still have to gather data from all around Mindanao as to the correct estimates,” Lao said.
Jake Miranda, chairman of the Caraga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the power outages in the region have reached 60 to 80 hours a month or an average of at least two to three hours a day.
“We already have rotating blackouts in Caraga and the most affected were those in the service industry that depend on electricity for their operation,” Miranda said.
Former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri has also warned of potential job losses due to the daily blackouts in parts of Mindanao.
“National agencies should find ways to help distressed economic sectors cope with the constant blackouts… The Department of Labor and Employment in particular should ensure that the feared dislocation of workers is minimized,” Zubiri said.
He said power-intensive industries hurt by the recurring blackouts include food processing and canning; rice, corn and coconut milling; construction; metal die casting; manufacture of steel, chemicals, cement and paper; and shopping malls and other commercial buildings.
He said agricultural plantations and fishing operations that depend on mechanization and cold storage have also been affected.
Even the petroleum and water industries have been impaired, since they depend on electricity to drive pumping operations, he said.
“In fact, in some communities, access to household, irrigation and industrial water has been reduced due to the blackouts,” he added.
President Aquino is expected to meet with various stakeholders in a summit to be held here next week to discuss the power crisis.
Fewer power outages – DOE
The Department of Energy (DOE), however, said there are fewer power outages in Mindanao nowadays.
“Fewer electric cooperatives are experiencing power outages now after the issuance of a department circular, which aims to rationalize the power supply in the region,” the DOE said.
The DOE said there are no more blackouts in Malaybalay and Valencia in Bukidnon; Dipolog and Dapitan in Zamboanga del Norte; Camiguin; Mati, Davao Oriental; Tagum, Davao del Norte; Digos, Davao del Sur; Butuan and Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte; Cotabato; Panabo, Davao del Norte; Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental; and Iligan in Lanao del Norte.
“This is a result of the issuance of stop-gap measures last month, Department Circular 2012–03-0004, which directs electric cooperatives to nominate their needed power to supply their demands,” the DOE said.
The circular outlined the measures that various government agencies and private firms should undertake to avert power outages in Mindanao.
The measures include the use of all available power plants to hike useable electricity, dredging of rivers to increase output in hydropower plants and the implementation of energy-saving programs.
“Alongside this measure, the DOE is also evaluating other solutions such as the operation of the Iligan diesel power plant,” DOE said.
Current power supply deficit was also lowered to 100-160 megawatts (MW) from 360 MW during the previous months, DOE said.
“Power situation in Mindanao is also expected to improve as electric cooperatives (ECs) get provisional authorities for the bilateral power service by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC),” DOE said.
ECs have contracted an aggregate total of 192 MW, of which around 20 MW is still subject to the ERC’s issuance of provisional authority.
“We hope that ECs, power generators and all other stakeholders will continue to cooperate to temporarily address the power situation in Mindanao and this will be a good start towards a long-term measure needed to provide stable power supply in the region,” said Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras.
Meanwhile, the ERC said it has approved a deal for Aboitiz Power Corp.’s Therma Marine, Inc. (TMI) to supply 18 MW of un-contracted capacity to Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative Inc.
“The ERC’s timely action on the applications of the Mindanao utilities to augment their power requirements with power coming from the TMI power barges facilitated the utilization of the generation capacity of these barges for the Mindanao consumers,” ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan said.
TMI owns two 100-MW power barges in Mindanao.
To date, there are 16 emergency supply contracts between the Mindanao utilities and TMI provisionally approved by the ERC. These contracts cover 152 MWs of the combined capacity of the power barges.
Only three emergency supply contracts are up for approval: the Misamis Occidental I Electric Cooperative Inc. for two MW; Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative Inc. for five MW and Cotabato Electric Cooperative Inc. for eight MW.
Since 2001, the DOE has been warning that Mindanao needs additional baseload generating capacity through private investor participation.
But the DOE said there were delays in securing permits from local government units. Aboitiz Power Corp., Sarangani Energy Corp. and San Miguel Corp. are planning to put up coal-fired power plants in Mindanao but host communities opposed these plans.
Load curtailment
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has blamed the daily power outages of eight to 12 hours in parts of Mindanao on the acute power shortage with load curtailment of up to 350 MW.
The NGCP placed the system deficit of the Mindanao grid at 134 MW while the peak capacity was pegged at 1,082 MW when the actual demand reached 1,219 MW.
The power outage is expected to worsen with the scheduled shutdown from April 9 to May 9 of three Agus-Pulangi power plants, which are among the main sources of hydroelectric power in the island.
Mindanao’s power curtailment is likewise expected to increase to the 550-MW level once the Agus-Pulangi plants are closed for rehabilitation.
General Santos City and nearby Sarangani province have also been affected by four to five hours rotating blackouts.
The rest of South Cotabato has also been hit by six to eight hours of power outages.
Western Mindanao, including Zamboanga City, has also been plagued with power outages of up to eight hours a day.
Coal-fired plants to be put up
Malacañang said it would push through with plans to put up coal-fired power plants in Mindanao, belying allegations by international environmental organization Greenpeace that it was a threat to sustainable development.
“We will be perfectly happy to show Greenpeace the power supply statistics for them to see that the situation is not contrived. The DOE, under Secretary Almendras, has been warning of this situation years before. Also there is such a thing as clean coal technology,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB.
Greenpeace said coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel and a main driver of climate change. There are hundreds of examples around the world where communities around coal plants suffer the impacts of environmental damage and health problems, it added.
Valte also disputed Greenpeace’s allegations that the power crisis was artificial and the government is blackmailing the people for them to agree to the establishment of new power plants.
She said the DOE had assured the public that 250 MW of power would be available by 2014 and only the shortages this year and in 2013 would have to be addressed.
She said the government is working to address all concerns related to the power crisis, including possible loss of jobs as businesses were reportedly adversely affected.
“There have been solutions presented on the table by national government... The President has appealed for cooperation from all stakeholders – from electric cooperatives, from consumers in Mindanao, and from the local government units as well. This is what we expect to become clear during the energy summit called by the President... everybody has to share in the burden,” Valte said.
Valte said supply from power barges would also be mixed with lower cost electricity so that consumers need not pay too much for their energy needs.
She said power in Luzon and Visayas had always been traditionally more expensive.
On Sen. Edgardo Angara’s warning that Luzon might also experience power shortage if the government would not have the political will to pursue renewable energy, Valte said she would have to discuss it with the DOE.
She said Luzon has an existing oversupply while Visayas has been getting ample energy.
“We have to bring in more investors and we have to use other sources. We have to resort to other sources of generation... And because of climate change, who knows what the weather will bring two to three years from now,” she said. – With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Neil Jerome Morales
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