Business Mirror
20 Jun 2014 Written by Lenie Lectura
THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Friday cited the benefits for power consumers whose distribution utility (DU) is connected to the grid rather than sourcing 100 percent of electricity requirements from independent power producers (IPPs).
For instance, Panay Electric Co. (Peco) is on an island mode and draws 100 percent of its requirement from bilateral contracts with Panay Energy Development Corp. and Panay Power Corp., affiliates of Global Business Power Corp., while the rest of the DUs are grid-connected.
If a DU is grid connected, it can obtain its power supply from other sources such as the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). As the grid operator, it is the NGCP’s role to transport the power to the DU.
Peco, according to the NGCP, charges its residential customers a generation rate of P7.5384 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as of December 2013. By comparison, other DUs in the Visayas that are connected to the grid and, therefore, sourced their supply not only from IPPs billed a much lower generation rate to their residential customers. For instance, the generation rate of Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) stood at P5.1819 per kWh in December last year.
NGCP President Henry Sy Jr. highlighted the benefits of connecting to the transmission grid. “Grid connection has its advantages. We can import supply from Luzon if there is supply deficiency in the Visayas. Our customers are also able to enjoy lower generation charges because grid connection makes it possible for them to get electricity from cheaper energy sources, including the WESM,” he explained.
“When power-sharing is made possible by grid connection, power-sourcing is not limited to a single supplier. Limited sourcing of electricity from only one or two generation companies leads to high generation cost because of the captive nature of the market. Connecting to the grid gives the customers the option to negotiate better prices from a larger pool of suppliers. In case one supplier breaks down, alternative power sources may be available from the WESM or the HVDC [High-Voltage Direct Current]. We are giving customers the power of choice,” Sy added. By implementing the sharing of power between Luzon and the Visayas through a submarine cable, NGCP was able to help electric cooperatives (ECs) and DUs deliver power to household consumers even at the height of the recent supply-deficiency situation in the Visayas.
The Visayas grid went on red alert on May 19 due to generation deficiency caused by the emergency shutdown of three power plants. A total of 200 megawatts (MW) generation capacity was lost from the grid during this period.
However, grid-connected ECs and DUs did not experience rotating brownouts and outages as the situation was addressed by NGCP’s HVDC submarine cable.
The submarine cable connecting the Luzon and the Visayas grids allowed power flow to and from the two island groups. During the recent supply deficiency in the Visayas, the submarine cable brought in excess power supply from Luzon to improve the supply situation in the Visayas.
The facility was instrumental in normalizing the Visayas grid with as much as 117 MW of power flowing from Luzon to Visayas during the evening peak of May 20.
The power flow helped the Visayas avoid rotational brownouts and manual load dropping. Interruptible Load Program was also implemented in some parts of Visayas to avoid rotational brownouts.
However, parts of Panay island still experienced power interruptions since some areas are not connected to the grid. These areas source their electricity from embedded generators. In the event these generators shut down, the distribution utility connected to them are unable to source electricity from other power plants.
NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid. It does not own or operate any power plant or generating units.
NGCP transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations and related assets. Regular maintenance activities, expansion, and upgrading projects aim to enhance the reliability and quality of electricity delivered to grid-connected customers like generators, distributors and large industries. source
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