Mindanao power supply drops again due to reduced capacity of 2 hydropower plants

Business World Online
Posted on October 30, 2015 07:23:00 PM
By Marifi S. Jara

DAVAO CITY -- Power supply in the Mindanao grid has again been reduced beginning Oct. 29 due to an emergency shutdown of some facilities. The supply cut comes after the production capacity of the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric complexes continued to decrease.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) power situation outlook as of 1:00 p.m. yesterday indicates a Mindanao grid deficiency of 79 megawatts (MW) with system capacity at 1,357 MW while peak demand was 1,436 MW.

Davao Light and Power Company (Davao Light), the biggest buyer from the Mindanao grid with a contracted supply of 273 megawatts (MW), said in a statement that NGCP has reduced its allocation to only 109 MW.

“(T)he NGCP had implemented a Mindanao-wide grid curtailment due to the derated capacity of Pulangi and Agus hydropower plants due to low water elevation in effect of the El Niño,” the company said.

Data from the Web site of the National Power Corporation, which manages the two hydropower complexes, shows the Agus 4 dam in Lanao, del Norte was at 358.56 meters above sea level (masl) as of Oct. 30, which is still slightly above the normal operating level of 357 masl.

On the other hand, the Pulangi 4 in Bukidnon, with a normal operating level of 282 masl, was at 282.15 masl.

At around 9:00 p.m. of Oct. 29, the NGCP activated an under frequency status due to a sudden interruption in the Agus-Kibawe line caused by the emergency shutdown of two plants in the Agus complex, Davao Light said.

Davao Light, which serves Davao City and parts of Davao del Norte province, announced a two-hour rotating brownout in its franchise areas effective yesterday.

The Aboitiz Power Corp. subsidiary is tapping back-up supply from its embedded plants as well as from sister-firms Hedcor, Inc., Therma Marine Inc., and Therma South Inc. The interruptible load program with commercial and industrial consumers has also been activated.

However, the combined available supply of 258 MW will still be 27 MW short of Davao Light’s projected average demand of 285 MW.

Reduced supply in the main grid came barely two weeks after the NGCP gave the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) assurance that the energy situation in the southern island is expected to be stable in the coming months despite a worst case scenario under the El Niño.

Earlier, Bryan H. Diosma, MPMC technical head, said the two hydroelectric plants have already been slowly put under “economy shutdown” to reduce the water used.

The Agus and Pulangi plants, with a combined installed capacity of 982 MW, have already been operating below capacity even before the El Niño and the this could go down to as much as 352 MW with the continued drought. -- with a report from Carmelito Q. Francisco source