Thursday, February 20, 2014

Storm-damaged power plant in Leyte back online


Business World Online
Posted on February 20, 2014 10:40:37 PM


THE 112.5-megawatt (MW) Tongonan geothermal power plant in Leyte is now fully restored following the return to service of the remaining unit of the plant that was damaged by typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) on Nov. 8 last year, the Lopez-led owner and operator of the facility said in a disclosure yesterday.

A VIEW of the Tongonan geothermal plant is shown in this undated official photo. --www.thinkgeoenergy.com
 “We have now energized the last remaining unit of our Tongonan Power Plant,” Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said.

“All units, however, remain subject to close monitoring and/or additional tests.”

ON TARGET
Restoration of the Tongonan plant -- which was partially recommissioned last December -- was within the first-quarter target set by the firm.

Just last Monday, the company reported that the remaining unit of Malitbog power plant and the first unit of the Mahanagdong plant were also back online.

These power plants form part of EDC’s Unified Leyte geothermal power complex. The complex -- which straddles Ormoc City and municipality of Kananga -- consists of 125-MW Upper Mahiao plant, 232.5-MW Malitbog plant, 180-MW Mahanagdong plant, and 51-MW Leyte optimization plants.

Two units of the Malitbog plant were restored last month, contributing a total of 150 MW.

Portions of the Upper Mahiao and optimization plants were also restored in November last year, enabling them to dispatch a total of 57 MW to the grid.

EDC President and Chief Operating Officer Richard B. Tantoco said last month that all damaged geothermal plants were expected to be back in online by August.

EDC is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, operating 12 power facilities in five service contract areas in the country.

The company, through First Gen Hydro Power Corp., also operates the 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydro power plant in Nueva Ecija.

It is also building the 87-MW Burgos wind power project in Ilocos Norte, which is expected to be operational this year.

EDC’s net income sank 30.8% to P5.93 billion as of September last year from P8.57 billion in the same nine months in 2012. Sales of electricity slipped 7.7% to P19.78 billion from P21.44 billion, while cost of power sales likewise dropped 6.7% to P7 billion from P7.5 billion.

Shares of the firm closed at P5.44 each yesterday, unchanged from their finish last Wednesday. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano   source

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