Business groups: ‘Hybrid Economic Dispatch’ to solve Mindanao power crisis

Business Mirror

Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 19:05

Written by Bong D. Fabe / Correspondent

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—If this city’s business people will have their way, the so-called Mindanao power crisis will be a thing of the past and will forever be erased from the vocabulary of every Filipino.

The Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber), together with other business groups in southern Philippines, are strongly pushing for the institutionalization of what it called the Hybrid Economic Dispatch to forever solve the power crisis in Mindanao.

The Hybrid Economic Dispatch calls for a 24/7 operations of all diesel plants in Mindanao, especially Power Barges 117 and 118 operated by Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), to enable the hydropower plants to save water during the day and release these during evening peak hours.

The Hybrid Economic Dispatch was first proposed by Cerael “Dodong” Donggay, former vice president of the National Power Corp. in Mindanao who was tasked to manage the Mindanao power grid as systems operations manager.

Donggay, a trustee of Oro Chamber who heads its advocacy unit, said there is no need for new plants to solve the power crisis in Mindanao.

“When we let all power plants connected to the grid operate all the time and use the hydropower plants of Lake Lanao and Pulangi River as peaking hour plants during night time, we will be able to save water during daytime off-peak hours. We can then unload this during evening peak hours to generate a greater volume of cheaper energy which would eliminate the need for rotating brownouts or power curtailment,” he said.

Donggay, who earned his Master in Economics degree from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP), said that in order to totally eliminate the power crisis, every Mindanawon has to sacrifice a little, which would also forever arrest an annual economic loss of P63 billion for the island.

“Let’s assume a grid cost of P4 per kilowatt hour [kWh] for hydro and geothermal plants and P8.48 per kWh for diesel plants, this will only entail a P1.34-per-kWh increment over the present rate of P4, a very small price to pay to totally eliminate the rotating brownouts now being suffered by major urban cities in Mindanao,” he said.

Of the major cities in Mindanao, only Cagayan de Oro and Davao are spared from the rotating brownouts, which go as long as 12 hours a day in General Santos City and other places.

“In other words, we have to reverse the present practice of only dispatching TMI’s PB 117 and 118 during peak hours while the hydro plants operate 24/7. That’s what this Hybrid Economic Dispatch is all about,” he told the BusinessMirror.

To make this work, TMI should deal with just one customer, the NPC or PSALM, instead of many customers.

“The NPC/PSALM can then buy power from PB 117 and 118 and sell it at cost,” he said.

However, Roderico R. Bioco, chairman and president of the Bukidnon Kaamulan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said there is a need for President Aquino to issue an executive order to be able to implement this scheme.

“There are legality issues involved here since the power barges are already privatized. Thus, there is a need for an enabling law through an executive order from the President for us to be able to implement this and forever say ‘good-bye’ to the power crisis,” he told the BusinessMirror.   source