Manila Standard Today
MINDANAO’S consumers may have to brace for two-hour power outages as early as March if the Pulangi IV hydroelectric power plant in Bukidnon is shut down for maintenance as planned, the Energy Department said over the weekend.
In a statement released Sunday, the department said it was coordinating with state-run National Power Corp., the plant’s operator, to find alternative sources of electricity for Mindanao, such as the power barges in Luzon and the Visayas.
The looming blackouts notwithstanding, the power situation in Mindanao would be better this year than last year—when the island suffered eight-hour outages amid a drought—because the Niña weather phenomenon this year would bring more rain to power Mindanao’s hydroelectric plants.
“Since there is La Niña, we don’t expect that the peak demand for Mindanao will be as high as the peak of 2010,” Energy Undersecretary Ina Asirit said.
The Energy Department says the Visayas will have enough power to be supplied by the coal-fired power plants, and those plants may be expected to supply Luzon with surplus energy in the summer, when the island requires an extra 300 megawatts.
The department says the wholesale electricity spot market opened in the Visayas in December, and it’s improving the power situation there.
The Philippine Electricity Market Corp., which operates the spot market, conducted its first participants’ meeting on Friday in Cebu and reported improvements in the Visayas power grid, including the commissioning of new plants. Alena Mae S. Flores
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