Business World Online
Posted on April 24, 2011 10:37:53 PM
THE CRIPPLING blackouts that beset Mindanao last year will not be experienced this summer, with power generators and the system operator assuring that power supply should be stable as water levels are expected to be maintained in the absence of El Niño this year.
"The power situation really depends on water elevation in the dams. We just have to maintain about 25.5 cubic meters per second or just enough water to generate power. It’s unlikely what happened last year will be repeated because there is no El Niño this year," said Rudy P. Brioso, plant manager of the Pulangi hydroelectric power plant, in a telephone interview withBusinessWorld.
He added "maintenance is being done to ensure rated capacity can be given in the summer. When the rain comes in May, the plant will definitely provide full capacity."
Grid operators National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) also expect stable power in Mindanao this summer.
"Based on our projections, we are not expecting any more brownouts in Mindanao. Last year was a drought year and we have been told not to expect that this year," said NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia D. Perez-Alabanza in a separate interview.
"Our expansion of the transmission highway also means the grid is good to serve the region, any problems will be in the supply if water levels in the hydroelectric power plant fall," she added.
NGCP said its projections take into account historical data, water level and the maintenance schedule of power plants.
In the past year, NGCP opened several transmission lines in Mindanao that increased the capacity of the transmission grid.
About 53% of the region’s power is sourced from hydroelectric power especially from the 700-megawatt (MW) Agus hydroelectric power plant and the 255-MW Pulangi hydropower plant.
Mindanao has 210 MW of coal energy, 98 MW of geothermal energy and about 485 MW of oil-based energy. This is compared to the 998-MW installed capacity of hydroelectric power in the region.
Last year, Mindanao experienced rotating brownouts throughout summer due to low water levels brought about by El Niño, or drought conditions. NGCP had to use more expensive ancillary power from Power Barges 117 and 118 to augment the power shortage.
The Department of Energy (DoE) noted that while there are some plants under preventive maintenance in Mindanao, there is enough power in the region.
"There’s enough [power supply] except some plants under preventive maintenance. Based on NGCP’s operating program there are slight deficiencies from April to June but there is enough supply," said DoE director for power Mylene C. Capongcol in a text message.
Mindanao generally has a demand of at least 1,085 MW according to the NGCP. For the Lenten season, which generally has low demand because industries are closed, there was a peak demand of 881 MW and a capacity of 1,064 MW. A unit of Pulangi was placed under maintenance on Wednesday which caused lower capacity in the region.
Mindanao business groups, that earlier expressed concern over the region’s power situation, could not be immediately contacted for comment.
One of the proposals to augment power supply in Mindanao is the Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project which will course excess power from the Visayas to Mindanao.
The project was approved by the National Transmission Corp. in 2006 before it was privatized and taken over by the NGCP. The project was estimated to cost around $275 million in 2006.
NGCP earlier said the adjusted estimated cost for the project is about $500 million or P24 billion.
The interconnection project included a 250-kilovolt high-voltage link with a total transfer capacity of 500 MW, a 455-kilometer-long overhead line and a 23-kilometer submarine cable. -- Emilia Narni J. David
Santiago C. Tudio, general manager of South Cotabato Electric Cooperative 1 (Socoteco 1), said the load curtailment of two hours daily from Monday last week until yesterday (Sunday) was due to the total power shutdown of the Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plant 4.
Socoteco 1 covers this city and the towns of Tampakan, Tantangan, Norala, Banga, T’boli, Lake Sebu and Surallah. These eight areas experienced the outages from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The "tentative load curtailment schedule," however, was not followed in some feeder stations. Some outages only lasted an hour or less.
The shedding scheme with schedules depending on individual feeder stations was also implemented by neighboring electric cooperatives. An NGCP statement issued late last week also said that more than 100 megawatts has been deducted from the Mindanao grid’s output because of the unexpected shutdown of units 2 and 4 of Agus 6, units 1 and 2 of Agus 7, and unit 1 of Agus 1.
Last year, power consumers in South Cotabato and the whole of Mindanao suffered from longer rotational brownouts in some areas because of the reduction of the water level in Mindanao’s hydropower reservoirs.
Mr. Tudio said the power load curtailment could continue until after the Holy Week depending on the advice of the NGCP. -- Louie O. Pacardo
He added "maintenance is being done to ensure rated capacity can be given in the summer. When the rain comes in May, the plant will definitely provide full capacity."
Grid operators National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) also expect stable power in Mindanao this summer.
"Based on our projections, we are not expecting any more brownouts in Mindanao. Last year was a drought year and we have been told not to expect that this year," said NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia D. Perez-Alabanza in a separate interview.
"Our expansion of the transmission highway also means the grid is good to serve the region, any problems will be in the supply if water levels in the hydroelectric power plant fall," she added.
NGCP said its projections take into account historical data, water level and the maintenance schedule of power plants.
In the past year, NGCP opened several transmission lines in Mindanao that increased the capacity of the transmission grid.
About 53% of the region’s power is sourced from hydroelectric power especially from the 700-megawatt (MW) Agus hydroelectric power plant and the 255-MW Pulangi hydropower plant.
Mindanao has 210 MW of coal energy, 98 MW of geothermal energy and about 485 MW of oil-based energy. This is compared to the 998-MW installed capacity of hydroelectric power in the region.
Last year, Mindanao experienced rotating brownouts throughout summer due to low water levels brought about by El Niño, or drought conditions. NGCP had to use more expensive ancillary power from Power Barges 117 and 118 to augment the power shortage.
The Department of Energy (DoE) noted that while there are some plants under preventive maintenance in Mindanao, there is enough power in the region.
"There’s enough [power supply] except some plants under preventive maintenance. Based on NGCP’s operating program there are slight deficiencies from April to June but there is enough supply," said DoE director for power Mylene C. Capongcol in a text message.
Mindanao generally has a demand of at least 1,085 MW according to the NGCP. For the Lenten season, which generally has low demand because industries are closed, there was a peak demand of 881 MW and a capacity of 1,064 MW. A unit of Pulangi was placed under maintenance on Wednesday which caused lower capacity in the region.
Mindanao business groups, that earlier expressed concern over the region’s power situation, could not be immediately contacted for comment.
One of the proposals to augment power supply in Mindanao is the Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project which will course excess power from the Visayas to Mindanao.
The project was approved by the National Transmission Corp. in 2006 before it was privatized and taken over by the NGCP. The project was estimated to cost around $275 million in 2006.
NGCP earlier said the adjusted estimated cost for the project is about $500 million or P24 billion.
The interconnection project included a 250-kilovolt high-voltage link with a total transfer capacity of 500 MW, a 455-kilometer-long overhead line and a 23-kilometer submarine cable. -- Emilia Narni J. David
Outages hit S. Cotabato at Holy Week
KORONADAL CITY -- Power consumers in South Cotabato experienced power outages during the Holy Week with the local power distribution utility implementing power load shedding as advised by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).Santiago C. Tudio, general manager of South Cotabato Electric Cooperative 1 (Socoteco 1), said the load curtailment of two hours daily from Monday last week until yesterday (Sunday) was due to the total power shutdown of the Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plant 4.
Socoteco 1 covers this city and the towns of Tampakan, Tantangan, Norala, Banga, T’boli, Lake Sebu and Surallah. These eight areas experienced the outages from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The "tentative load curtailment schedule," however, was not followed in some feeder stations. Some outages only lasted an hour or less.
The shedding scheme with schedules depending on individual feeder stations was also implemented by neighboring electric cooperatives. An NGCP statement issued late last week also said that more than 100 megawatts has been deducted from the Mindanao grid’s output because of the unexpected shutdown of units 2 and 4 of Agus 6, units 1 and 2 of Agus 7, and unit 1 of Agus 1.
Last year, power consumers in South Cotabato and the whole of Mindanao suffered from longer rotational brownouts in some areas because of the reduction of the water level in Mindanao’s hydropower reservoirs.
Mr. Tudio said the power load curtailment could continue until after the Holy Week depending on the advice of the NGCP. -- Louie O. Pacardo
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