Bohol tapping power barges to address

Published July 14, 2017, 12:09 AM by Dave Albarado

http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/07/14/bohol-tapping-power-barges-to-address/

Tagbilaran City – Power supply in Bohol is expected to improve soon following the move of the provincial government to fast-track the installation of two power barges to provide additional power supply for the province.

Bohol, which consumes around 70 to 84 MW of electricity per day, has to resort to the use of power barges as the planned bypass line has yet to provide power, while the estimated return of the normal supply of electricity is around four to six weeks.

Bohol’s acting provincial administrator Mitchel John Boiser said two power barges from Iloilo and Davao will be brought to Bohol. The two power barges are expected to generate 32 MW of electricity each.

In this city, power supply remains spotty despite electricity already restored in most areas as of Wednesday night.

Meager power supply of about 10 MW from the diesel power plant is being rationed to six feeder blocks in the city. Some residents were without power for nearly 24 hours after the diesel power plant tripped off Tuesday evening when the supply could no longer keep up with the demand.

The provincial government is turning into its Plan B after the Bohol Energy Development Advisory Group (BEDAG) meeting on Wednesday found out it will take weeks before the power supply from Leyte to Bohol to normalize.

The earlier plan to use power from Cebu using a bypass line has been stalled. The bypass line was supposed to provide power from Cebu to Bohol last Monday. But reports said several technical problems caused the delay of the use of the bypass line.

The power barge coming from Iloilo is owned by Trans-Asia Power and is expected to arrive in three to seven days.

The one coming from Davao is owned by Salcon Power Corporation and expected to arrive in Bohol in two to three weeks.

Once the two power barges will be on-line, the Bohol Diesel Power Plant in Barangay Dampas in Tagbilaran will no longer bear the brunt of supplying electricity to certain areas of the province, particularly Tagbilaran City.

The power barges will temporarily augment the power supply to Bohol while waiting for the normalization of the power supply from Leyte, said Boiser.

During the BEDAG meeting Wednesday afternoon, three mooring sites were being considered for the power barges. The three mooring sites are located in the towns of Cortes, Maribojoc, and Loon.