Power crisis looms in Mindanao

Sunstar Davao
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
By ACE JUNE RELL S. PEREZ

LAKE Lanao is just 11 centimeters away from not being able to generate power, the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee said.
Present water level of Lake Lanao as of July 21 is at 699.24 meters above sea level (masl). The lowest possible level for it to continue operating is 699.15 masl.
The normal high water level for the lake is 701.10 masl, but as of July 21, it is 1.86 meters below normal.
Meanwhile, the water level of Agus 4 as of July 21 stands at 358.31 masl, which is half a meter lower than it was two days ago, which was at 358.88 masl. It is 1.31 meters away from the minimum operating level of 357 masl.
The dam has a normal high water level of 359 masl.
Pulangi 4, which is located in Maramag, Bukidnon, has a present water level of 280.40 masl, 1.6 meters away before breaching its minimum operating level of 282 masl.
At present, the Pulangi 4 generates just 20 megawatts (MW) out of 250-MW capacity, largely on account of siltation.
Romeo Montenegro, of the Mindanao Development Authority (Minda), said the low water levels of the dams have brought the low power supply in some areas in Mindanao, resulting in the implementation of power interruptions for each distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in Mindanao averaging at one to four hours per distributor.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, the National Grid Power Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) noted that Mindanao has a power deficiency of -248 MW.
Hydroelectric power accounts for 33.85 percent of the total Mindanao grid. The rest are supplied by diesel plants (40.6 percent), coal (21.33 percent), and geothermal (4.22 percent).
As of July 22, coal generates 105MW, diesel 445 MW, geothermal 98 MW, hydroelectric 380 MW, and embedded generators 238 MW, for a total capacity of 1,266 MW.
Preventive maintenance shutdown (PMS) of the 105 MW Unit 2 of the 210 MW Steag coal-fired power plant of State Power Inc. (SPI) in Misamis Oriental is also considered one factor in the low power supply in the island.
Unit 2 has been on PMS since July 18 and is expected to get back online on August 16.
The Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) is implementing one of the longest rotational brownouts at a maximum of nine hours per feeder, an average of seven hours, and a minimum of five hours.
The Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative (Zamsureco) 2 is implementing a five-hour brownout per substation, while the Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative (Sukelco) is implementing a five-hour brownout per feeder.
The Surigao del Norte (Surneco) is also implementing a 4.5-hour brownout per feeder in their franchise area.
The South Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Socoteco) 2 remains unaffected with load shedding, with modular generator set providing stop gap supply.
Likewise, the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (Dasureco) is also not implementing any rotational brownouts due to its 12-MW modular generator set.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on July 23, 2015. source