Energy seeks new repair skeds

Manila Standard Today
By Alena Mae S. Flores | Aug. 18, 2014 at 12:01am

The Energy Department said over the weekend it will issue an order preventing power plants from shutting down for repair and maintenance during the dry months next year to avoid power outages.

“We are formalizing a directive that no power plants are to have scheduled maintenance during summer of 2015,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told reporters, referring to the months of March, April and May when power demand was expected to peak.

“There are others who will seek exemption. However, we will scrutinize them with utmost vigilance,” Petilla said.

Petilla earlier warned that Luzon might have a power deficit of 200 megawatts from March to May 2015, amid the rising power demand from the growing economy.

The 30-day Malampaya natural gas platform maintenance shutdown in March is expected to aggravate the power supply situation, as Malampaya provides fuel to three of the largest power plants in Batangas.

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. earlier asked the government to carefully schedule the maintenance shutdown of power plants to help mitigate any blackout in Luzon next year, after intermittent power outages hit the island in May.

Petilla also pushed for the implementation of the interruptible load program, which would free up the needed capacity in the Luzon grid.

Large power users such as shopping malls, under the program, will be asked to use their power generating sets, instead of drawing electricity from the power grid. They will be compensated for their fuel and other variable costs but participation remains voluntary.

“The bottom line here is that if we can get all the capacity from ILP, then the government does not really have to lease or rent. In fact, in one meeting, I proposed that we don’t lease or rent at all and put our hopes on the ILP,” he said.

Petilla ordered an audit of the capacities generated from the ILP, which based on the initial estimates, could be around 1,500 megawatts to 3,000 MW.

“We have until February 2015 to finalize this. They [business and industry players] want more time ... as this is voluntary in nature. In fact, we have asked them what they want the government to do in order for them to participate,” he said.

The ILP program is currently implemented by Meralco in its franchise area and was tapped when power supply became tight in the Luzon grid.

Petilla also defended his recommendation that President Benigno Aquino invoke Section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, granting the head of state emergency powers to resolve the power situation in 2015. source