Energy department: Brownout stories exaggerated

By Antonio L. Colina IV
Tuesday, April 3, 2012


DAVAO CITY (Updated) – There is no truth to reports of 10 to 15 hours rotational brownout in Mindanao, as only nine of 27 power cooperatives in the island experience shortfall that lasts only from 30 to 40 minutes a day, a top official of the Energy department said.


Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Ina Magpale-Asirit said Tuesday rotational brownouts in several areas have reduced to 30 minutes to one hour from five to four hours just three days ago.


"That (10-15 hours rotational brownout) never happened," Magpale-Asirit said.


She said the current total demand for Mindanao is 1,300 megawatts (MW), but the available capacity is only 1,200 MW with a curtailment of 100 MW.


"We saw a curtailment of 100 MW. But before, it was 300 MW and it went down to 200, until it became 100 MW," she said.


The Energy undersecretary said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is doing all it can to further decrease the curtailment.


She also said only the cities of Davao, Iligan, and Cagayan De Oro have not experienced rotational brownouts because they have sufficient capacity, adding that if there are brownouts within those areas, these are not because of deficiency in supply.


The growth of both the population and industries were cited as reasons why Mindanao is experiencing curtailments.


"Unfortunately, the power industry here failed to find investments to meet the needs in terms of power supply," Magpale-Asirit said.


Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) Law, she said, the energy sector has been privatized and the government can no longer engage in the buying or selling of electricity other than the existing ones.


With this, the government tries to bring in more investments for the power sector, adding that the DOE saw the need to put up power development plan, as well as the projection in power supply until the 2013. The data will be used as basis in determining the areas that need more investments in terms of power supply.


There is a committed capacity of 250-MW baseload, composed of 200 MW from coal and 50 MW from geothermal that will come in 2014.


Baseload is the minimum amount of power that has to be distributed to sustain operations in an area; and is the power needed to supply the barest minimum demand.


She added that there is still 500 MW coming in the same year but still in the indicative stage to which, she explained, is still in the process of compliance in terms clearances.


"The construction period for power projects takes long," she said.


She said within this year, there will be an acquisition of additional four barges, each with 30-MW capacity.


The Energy department has also seen the generation mix, the blending of different power technologies such as hydropower, geothermal, hydrothermal, power barges and more, as a solution to augment the power generation while controlling the cost of electricity.


"Mindanao kulang sa baseload. Ang generation capacity niya kay 66 percent ang hydropower (Mindanao lacks baseload. It only has hydropower consisting of 66 percent)," she said.


"The baseload is the one that operates twenty four hours a days, seven days a week," she added.


Only 17 percent of the overall power generation here supplies Mindanao’s baseload, which means when the water level is low, there will also be lower power generation.


Hydropower plants are not considered as reliable source for baseload, as the energy it generates relies mostly on the quantity of water. She added that the dams here are not big enough to store up large volumes of water.


The water level is significantly low during the months of April and May in time for summer, Magpale-Asirit said.


Meanwhile, Sergio Dagooc, president of Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives, said it was only in the past three days when power situation normalized in Mindanao and this has nothing to do with additional capacity but with the Holy Week.


He said power consumption is lowest during the Holy Week throughout the year.


"Walay tao sa balay. Ang mga establishments og offices sirado (No one is at home. Establishments and offices are closed)," he said.


He said the maintenance work for Pulangi 4, which supplies a total of 117 MW, is slated April 17 to May 17, which will mean more power curtailment.


Rally


Outside Grand Regal Hotel where the Mindanao Power Stakeholders Meeting was being held Tuesday, a group from Kilusang Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPPD), a group under the umbrella of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), was picketing against the Epira of 2001.


The group was also calling a stop on the privatization of government power assets such as Agus and Pulangi Power plants, saying it will be less costly if those power plants will be rehabilitated instead.


Haspe Canseco, spokesperson for KPPD, also said Tuesday that Epira, which prohibits the government to engage in selling and buying of electricity, should be scrapped for failing to resolve the power situation in Mindanao.


He believes that the privatization of government-owned power plants is not the solution to the deficiency of power supply in Mindanao.


He also said meetings such as the one being held inside the hotel should involve the public and not just selected few, because power is the concern of all.


"Importante nga naay participation ang public diri (It's important that the public should take part of the event) because what has been talked is for their welfare," he said.


For her part, Magpale-Asirit said Epira is not really a failure. "No law sets out to be a failure, there are challenges. But there should also be revisions," she said. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)


Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on April 04, 2012.