Business World Online
Posted on April 29, 2013 10:18:03 PM
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Daily rotational brownouts here extended to nine hours yesterday, the second longest since the problem reemerged in Mindanao early this year, as the water level in Lake Lanao continued to fall.
The worst power outage was in March when this city suffered 11 hours of rotational brownouts, said Sherwin C. Manada, officer-in-charge and general manager of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco). In previous weeks, the brownouts lasted seven hours.
On Monday, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) could provide the city with 35 megawatts (MW), less than 42 MW contracted by Zamcelco. The reduction was due to the falling water level in Lake Lanao, the source of water for Napocor’s hydropower plants.
Aside from the Napocor, this city’s distribution utility is also getting 18 MW from Aboitiz Power Corp. subsidiary Therma Marine, Inc.
Home of the country’s major sardines canners, Zamboanga City has a minimum power demand of 87 MW.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ Web site on Monday showed a power supply deficiency of 236 MW, about a fifth of the island’s total demand. In previous weeks, when rainfall was almost daily in many parts of the island, power shortage hovered between 120 and 180 MW.
As this developed, businessmen complained of mounting losses.
Pedro Rufo N. Soliven, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce, Inc., toldBusinessWorld on Monday that local businesses are losing about half a billion pesos monthly from the power outages.
“As of now, we are still gathering data. But it is already more than half a billion, and there is a possibility that we will reach P1 billion when we finalize our computation,” he said.
The losses, he said, come from fuel cost, inefficiency of labor, and other productivity issues caused by the outages.
Prices of goods have already increased as retailers and manufacturers pass the additional operating costs, particularly on fuel to run their generator sets, to consumers.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla told participants of the Visayas Power Summit last Friday that Mindanao will continue to suffer from brownouts until 2015, when an additional 588 MW from committed projects will become available.
The establishment of an Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) before or by 2014 is expected to solve over-contracting, which has compounded supply problems on the island. He cited a Zamboanga power utility that sought to purchase 120 MW when it needs only 18 MW. Another plan is to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Cagayan de Oro by 2015 at the earliest, he added.
For Luzon and the Visayas, another power shortage could occur in 2020 and 2019, respectively, if peak demand grows at an annual average rate of 4.12%. -- DTW, MDL source
On Monday, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) could provide the city with 35 megawatts (MW), less than 42 MW contracted by Zamcelco. The reduction was due to the falling water level in Lake Lanao, the source of water for Napocor’s hydropower plants.
Aside from the Napocor, this city’s distribution utility is also getting 18 MW from Aboitiz Power Corp. subsidiary Therma Marine, Inc.
Home of the country’s major sardines canners, Zamboanga City has a minimum power demand of 87 MW.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ Web site on Monday showed a power supply deficiency of 236 MW, about a fifth of the island’s total demand. In previous weeks, when rainfall was almost daily in many parts of the island, power shortage hovered between 120 and 180 MW.
As this developed, businessmen complained of mounting losses.
Pedro Rufo N. Soliven, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce, Inc., toldBusinessWorld on Monday that local businesses are losing about half a billion pesos monthly from the power outages.
“As of now, we are still gathering data. But it is already more than half a billion, and there is a possibility that we will reach P1 billion when we finalize our computation,” he said.
The losses, he said, come from fuel cost, inefficiency of labor, and other productivity issues caused by the outages.
Prices of goods have already increased as retailers and manufacturers pass the additional operating costs, particularly on fuel to run their generator sets, to consumers.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla told participants of the Visayas Power Summit last Friday that Mindanao will continue to suffer from brownouts until 2015, when an additional 588 MW from committed projects will become available.
The establishment of an Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) before or by 2014 is expected to solve over-contracting, which has compounded supply problems on the island. He cited a Zamboanga power utility that sought to purchase 120 MW when it needs only 18 MW. Another plan is to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Cagayan de Oro by 2015 at the earliest, he added.
For Luzon and the Visayas, another power shortage could occur in 2020 and 2019, respectively, if peak demand grows at an annual average rate of 4.12%. -- DTW, MDL source
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