Govt to reactivate Malaya plant

Manila Standard Today
By Alena Mae S. Flores | Feb. 07, 2014 at 12:01am

The Energy Department plans to reactivate the 620-megawatt Malaya diesel power plant in Pililla, Rizal in March amid the expected tight power supply in the dry season.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told reporters at the sidelines of an energy forum that power supply during summer “is always tight” because of higher demand amid high temperature.

Petilla said the government planned to run Malaya plant starting March to address the additional power demand.  He also appealed to consumers to adopt power conservation measures.

 “At this point we have tight supply. It would help if we tighten consumption,” he said.

He said power reserves in Luzon could drop to as low as 240 megawatts during the summer months. 

“Taking into consideration the reserves, in our projection, if you subtract demand from supply and then reserve from supply, the thinnest margin that we have is about 240 MW in Luzon,” Petilla said.

Power reserves should at least be around 600 MW, according to the Energy Regulatory Commission. A sudden shutdown of a power plant with a capacity of at least 240 MW could result in red alert on the power grid, resulting in rotating brownouts.

Peak demand in summer last year reached 8,300 MW.

Meanwhile, Petilla said the agency was in talks with Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. on whether the government should privatize the Malaya power plant.

 “PSALM wants to dispose the Malaya plant but I want a replacement before it can be disposed…not necessarily security plant but additional capacity,” he said.   source