Bicol provinces still on total blackout; Meralco fast-tracks power restoration

Published November 2, 2020, 12:53 PM by Myrna M. Velasco
https://mb.com.ph/2020/11/02/bicol-provinces-still-on-total-blackout-meralco-fast-tracks-power-restoration/

A day after super typhoon Rolly pummeled the Bicol region, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that consumers in the severely battered provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon and Catanduanes are still agonizing from total blackouts.

In a briefing of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) as of 10am on Monday (November 2), Energy Undersecretary Alexander Lopez indicated that “as of late, the whole of Bicol region still has no electricity.”


Particularly in Catanduanes, the energy official noted that disconnected communication lines in the province had been rendering power restoration efforts doubly difficult to carry out.


For the rest of the southern Luzon provinces in Quezon, Batangas, Laguna and Cavite hammered by the extreme weather disturbance, the energy official said the assistance of the NDRRMC is being sought “for the deployment of teams for damage assessment”- primarily on the extent of devastation sustained by the Quezon Electric Cooperative.


In the Bicol region, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) asserted that the total loss of power had been mainly due to the “unavailability of power transmission services from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.”

The electrification agency and the DOE cannot give a categorical timeframe yet on when the Bicolanos can finally see “light at the end of the tunnel” after the super typhoon’s battering.


Meralco’s fast-tracked restoration

For Metro Manila and the rest of the areas served by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi emphasized that the utility firm was able to fast-track the restoration of electricity service to its customers.


Data submitted to the DOE showed that as of 6:00am on Monday, “the estimated count of Meralco customers still without power had been at 53,863, which was just around 0.8-percent” of the total 463,582 customers that experienced power supply cut-off during the typhoon’s strike.


For Metro Manila customers served by Meralco, the areas that suffered electricity service disruptions had been Malabon, Las Pinas, Quezon City, Caloocan and Muntinlupa; while the rest are those in Laguna and Quezon provinces.

And while public patience is being stretched for those still groping in darkness, Cusi assured that relevant industry players – primarily the NGCP, National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), NEA, electric cooperatives and all other industry players “are doing everything to restore and put the power back in affected areas.”

Power plants on emergency shutdown

On the part of the generation companies (GenCos), Lopez noted that a total of 2,776 megawatts had been taken out from the system — as the power plant owners and operators resorted to pre-emptive actions “to avoid plant damage and sudden disconnection (of their facilities) to the grid;” while there are also at least three plants undergoing restoration processes.


The electric generating facilities which went on emergency shutdown had been: the Tiwi geothermal power plant; Bacon-Manito geothermal power plant; Makiling-Banahaw geothermal plant; Ilijan gas-fired power facility; Santa Rita gas-fired power plant and the San Lorenzo gas-fired power generating facility.


The power plants on restoration activities as of November 2 had been: the Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation; Avion gas plant; and the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant.


In the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) domain of state-run National Power Corporation, Lopez stressed that the company has “no established communication yet for its SPUG plants in Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.”


For the other SPUG generating facilities in Albay, Romblon, Masbate and even for those in Marinqudue and Quezon, the energy official emphasized that most are either on standby or already partially energized.


In what is deemed as more problematic restoration of power supply in the Bicol region, Lopez said the DOE already met with NGCP “to discuss the details and updates as well as the identification of strategies for immediate restoration.”

With improvement on weather conditions and in collaboration with the power generation companies, Lopez noted that NGCP’s personnel on the ground “will conduct a more detailed assessments,” primarily on connecting the Tayabas-Naga line for the restoration of electricity services in the franchise areas of Camarines Sur Electric Cooperatives I, II, III and IV; and then the repair of transmission lines that will bring back power supply in Camarines Norte, Albay and Sorsogon.


For the electric cooperatives, the energy department said 45 power utilities had been affected in eight regions – and 24 of these are already in normal operations; 10 have experienced partial power interruptions; while 11 suffered total blackouts.