Published May 1, 2017, 10:01 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
Summer months next year will not be
as jittery when it comes to strike of “tight supply dilemmas” with Energy
Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi advancing word that they will calibrate schedule of
power plants’ maintenance shutdowns to a “more efficient pace.”
He noted that since the scheduled
downtimes of power plants are planned a year ahead, the simultaneous scheduling
this year was still beyond this administration’s control.
The energy department was partly at
the receiving end of criticisms when Luzon grid was plagued with yellow- to red
alert conditions in the past weeks – aggravated also by the frequent
earthquakes in the early part of April.
Cusi said the “often wobbly state”
of the electricity system with power plant shutdowns would need to change,
especially during the peak demand months of summer.
He vowed that next year will be a
different scenario because they are now adjusting the shutdown schedules of
power plants so these would not be overlapping .
Primarily, he noted the technical
glitches that power plants suffer coming from a shutdown mode – citing that
such repeatedly result in extended outages that had been setting off the power
system to breaking point at times.
The energy chief made previous
pronouncements that he will set a policy on the publication of power plant
shutdowns, so stakeholders in the sector could have a more coordinated approach
on ensuring reliable and sufficient supply on events of plant downtimes – as
well as on the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas production facility.
For his part, Senate Committee on
Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian noted that, with recurrent incidents of
“tight supply” in the power system, efficient planning primarily on shutdowns
of power plants must be taken as paramount concern for the DOE.
He emphasized that the Energy
Secretary shall have a stronger mandate so he can enforce shutdown schedules
that will not jeopardize the supply-demand situation in the grid.
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