Add'l 83.5 MW contracted for DLPC's franchise area

By Reuel John F. Lumawag

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

THE Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), a distribution subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp, announced Monday that it has contracted an additional 83.5 megawatts (MW) from other energy generators as an addition to the energy supply it is sourcing from the National Power Corporation (Napocor).

DLPC executive vice president Arturo M. Milan, speaking in Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao Annex, said they are anticipating 2014 to be a critical year for energy in Mindanao, especially during summer months where water levels are expected to go down affecting the generation of hydro power, the island's main source of energy.

"Unlike other areas in Mindanao where they depend so much with Napocor supply. But the Napocor is very dependent with hydro power, when water levels go down during the summer period, Napocor will have difficulty giving supply to its customers," he said.

Milan said they have recontracted with non-Napocor generators before 2014 to prevent outages in DLPC franchise areas.

"By way of recontracting our supply with non-Napocor generators, we are confident that we will not be affected much by outages," he said.

They have contracted 5 MW from Hedcor Talomo, 42.5 MW from Hedcor Sibulan, 6 MW from Hedcor Tudaya, and 30 MW from Therma Marine Inc. This will be added to the 285 MW they have contracted from Napocor.

Milan said it is important that they have to diversify their supply mix to make it reliable.

He assured that the power supply they have is enough to supply their customers for the whole year of 2014.

"For 2014, we have an available supply of about 369 MW while we anticipate that the peak demand, based on our projections, would be about 343 MW, we will have an excess of 26 MW. We also have our Bajada Power Plant, our standby power, that has a 40 MW reserve. In total, we still have a reserve of 66 MW for the whole year," Milan said,

He said with the rate of Davao's growth, it is important that they have a reserved supply so as to prevent supply deficiency.

The additional 83.5 MW will help cater the new establishments coming to the city this year. For instance, Steel Asia in Bunawan, expected to operate in March, requires 17 MW, and the Mighty Steel in Panacan, set to operate later this year, needs 25 MW.

Other companies include Felcris (8 MW), Ateneo de Davao University (5 MW), and Alveo and Avida (5 MW).   source