By: Ronnel W. Domingo - 04:08 AM
January 15, 2020
Residents clear their roofs from
volcanic ash in Laurel, Batangas province, southern Philippines on Tuesday,
Jan. 14, 2020. Taal volcano is spewing ash half a mile high and trembling with
earthquakes constantly as thousands of people flee villages darkened and
blanketed by heavy ash. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Seven power generators shed a total
of 1,799 megawatts (MW) in generating capacity, reining in their operation due
to the ashfall from Taal Volcano’s eruption, according to the Department of
Energy.
These included five coal-fired
generators in Quezon and two natural gas-fired units in Batangas.
Still, National Grid Corporation of
the Philippines said the Luzon grid was in normal condition as of Tuesday
morning with a reserve capacity of 903 MW.
Based on DOE monitoring, Units 1 and
2 of the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant—operated by Team Energy Corp.—both
reduced output to 120 MW from 382 MW. Unit 3, operated by Pagbilao Energy
Corp., also scaled down to 131 MW from 420 MW.
In Mauban town, Quezon Power
Philippines Ltd. eased down to 185 MW from 460 MW. In an adjacent facility, San
Buenaventura Power Ltd. derated to 180 MW from 455 MW.
Kepco Ilijan Corp. brought down
operations to 182 MW from 600 MW for both of its generators in Batangas.
Also, First Gen Corp. said in a
statement its three gas-fired power plant complexes in Batangas continued to
operate despite Taal’s eruption.
These include the 1,000-MW Santa
Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo and 97-MW Avion power plants—all located in the same
energy complex in Batangas City. A fourth plant— the 414-MW San Gabriel power
plant—is on scheduled shutdown for the period Jan. 4 to 18.
However, First Gen said continuous
ashfall “may temporarily curtail” operations, especially with an expected
hazardous eruption.
“Under such condition, our gas
turbines can potentially suffer damage from the continuous ash fall, which, in
turn, could affect our ability to deliver power,” the Lopez group firm said.
“Any possible decision to curtail
our Batangas power plant operations will be based on safety and good utility
practice considerations,” the company added.
Further, NGCP said four major
transmission lines that were still out—two with a capacity of 500 kilovolts
(kV) and two with 230 kV—run through the 14-kilometer danger zone and could not
yet be reached by repair crews.
The grid operator has deployed 22
teams and is now conducting foot patrol and inspection of the affected
facilities that are outside the zone cordoned off by local governments.
“Aerial inspection outside the
critical areas was also conducted to thoroughly assess the effect of the
ashfall,” NGCP said. “Cleaning of the facilities and lines affected will begin
as soon as prevailing conditions in the area improve.”
At the distribution level, the DOE
said about 150,000 customers—or connections—of Manila Electric Co. and Batangas
1 and 2 electric cooperatives were affected by power service interruptions.
“This number will continue to go
down as the linemen and the other field personnel continue to clean and restore
the electricity services,” the DOE said.
No comments:
Post a Comment