Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Energy secretary Jericho Petilla said the power outage that left millions of people without electricity in Mindanao on Thursday was traced to a power tripping incident in a Lanao Del Norte hydropower plant.
Petilla said in an interview on Inquirer Radio 990 on Friday that the power tripped in the 80-megawatt Agus 1 hydropower plant in Marawi city.
The power plant is located at the mouth of Lanao lake.
But repair crews have yet to find out if it was the plant that malfunctioned or the power grid, Petilla said.
“Whether it’s the power plant or the grid that tripped, we still need to investigate…” the energy chief said in Filipino.
The power cuts began before dawn and affected heavily populated areas in Mindanao, home to a quarter of the country’s nearly 100 million population.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said at least 12 of Mindanao’s key cities and provinces — including major trading hubs — were affected, although limited power was restored in some parts a few hours later.
Mindanao, the nation’s main southern island which relies mostly on hydroelectricity, has been grappling with chronic power shortages for years.
An electricity shortage last year forced the NGCP to ration off supply in Mindanao, resulting in up to 12 hour daily blackouts which damaged the local economy as factories slowed production. With Agence France-Presse source
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