Mindanao building up power surplus

Business World Online
Posted on July 10, 2014 10:37:42 PM

DAVAO CITY -- Mindanao should no longer have to bear with regular brownouts beginning on the second quarter next year with more power sources coming on line, but the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) warned that the stability of supply will still depend on distribution utilities.
A view of the 210-megawatt coal-fired plant of STEAG State Power, Inc. -- which is majority-owned by Germany-based STEAG GmbH -- is shown in this undated official photo. The facility meets more than a fifth of Mindanao’s power consumption. -- www.steagstatepower.com

“There will be no more brownouts in Mindanao by next year based on the projected excess in power supply in the grid, but if the concerned distribution utilities have not contracted the projected supply for their areas then they may experience some deficiencies,” Bryan Diosma, MPMC technical officer, said in a recent interview here.

Mr. Diosma noted that Mindanao’s distribution utilities, most of which are public-owned cooperatives, may not be able to contract available power supply given poor financial and management conditions.

“A power plant will not give power supply to a distribution utility with so much debt,” Mr. Diosma said, citing as examples the Cotabato Electric Cooperative and Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, Inc.

LINED UP
Among the committed power projects that are expected to start commercial operations are:

• 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant of Therma South, Inc. to go online by March (first 150MW) and June (second 150MW) next year;

• Two 100-MW coal-fired units of the power plant of Sarangani Energy Corp. in Maasim, Sarangani by September 2015;

• 20-MW biomass-coal-fired thermal power plant of FDC Utilities, Inc. in Maco, Davao del Norte by March 2015;

• 300-MW project of San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp. in Malita, Davao del Sur (150MW by October 2014) and (150MW by 2016);

• 100-MW coal-fired power plant of San Ramon Power, Inc in Zamboanga City by December 2015;

• 39-MW Tagoloan Hydropower plant of First Gen Mindanao Hydropower Corp. in Sumilao, Bukidnon by October 2015;

• 23-MW Bubunawan hydroelectric power plant of First Gen Mindanao Hydropower Corp. in Bukidnon by October 2015;

• 9-MW Tumalaong hydroelectric power project of First Gen Power Corp; in Bukidnon; and

• 9.75-MW Cabadbaran hydroelectric power plant of First Gen Mindanao Hydropower Corp. in Agusan del Norte in December 2015.

These new power sources will augment current largely hydro-based power supply in Mindanao.

A check with the Web site of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines showed Mindanao with thin reserves of 27 MW, with supply of 1,326MW just barely matching peak demand estimated at 1,348MW.

But the current situation is still better than in 2010, when a prolonged dry spell forced hydropower plants -- which provide more than half the island’s electricity supply -- to shut down. Power deficiency then approached 600 MW, resulting in outages of as long as 10 hours in some areas on the island.

Mr. Diosma noted that Mindanao actually had enough and even surplus power supply in the first two months of 2014, but the outage of STAEG State Power Inc.’s two plants in Misamis Oriental on February 27 resulted in major interruptions.

It also coincided with increased power demand in the summer months and decreasing water levels in sites where hydropower plants operate.

“By next year, power plants we will no longer be at the mercy of Mother Nature since diesel and coal plants are not dependent on the weather,” he said.

The MPMC, formed through Executive Order No. 81, is tasked to review policies and processes to accelerate private investments that will generate more power for Mindanao’s grid.

Based on projected expansion of economic activity in Mindanao, the Department of Energy anticipates a 4.7% annual growth in power demand on the island from 2016 to 2030, needing at least an additional 1,000 MW in the next 10 years.

For the meantime, Mindanao is preparing for the El Niño climate phenomenon which the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said would have a 70% chance of occurring this quarter and 80% chance in the last three months of the year. This climate aberration results initially in a long dry spell that is followed by periods of strong typhoons.

The Mindanao Development Authority is coordinating with the Department of Agriculture for cloud seeding over Pulangi River in Bukidnon, one of the river systems critical to Mindanao’s water supply as it powers four plants with a total capacity of 255MW. -- Carmencita A. Carillo source