EDC puts up temporary power in typhoon-hit Bicol areas

November 9, 2020 | 12:02 am
https://www.bworldonline.com/edc-puts-up-temporary-power-in-typhoon-hit-bicol-areas/

GEOTHERMAL company Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has started providing 20 to 40 megawatts (MW) of temporary power to Albay and Sorsogon provinces after the Bicol region was hit by Super Typhoon Rolly on Nov. 1.

EDC’s Bacon-Manito geothermal facility worked with Sorsogon I Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Albay Electric Cooperative, Inc. to serve their power needs even without a power supply agreement with them, the Lopez-led company said.

The move, which also covered some of the larger commercial establishments in Albay and Sorsogon, is with the support of privately led grid operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), it added.

“We express our deepest gratitude to NGCP for making it possible for us to energize our two host areas that have about 400,000 households and a population of about two million,” said Liberato S. Virata, EDC engineer, senior vice-president and head of the company’s facilities O&M group, in a press release over the weekend.

Since Nov. 1, the two provinces have been without electricity after power lines and facilities were damaged by the typhoon.

Aside from temporary power, EDC is also providing more than 2,300 sacks of rice to both provinces as well as Catanduanes and Camarines Sur. It is distributing food packs and bread to severely affected families in Guinobatan, Albay in partnership with the Lopez Group Foundation, Inc.

“Through this initiative, we hope to help our local communities recover from the damages caused by Super Typhoon Rolly and from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. Virata said.

EDC said BacMan’s temporary power for Albay and Sorsogon will revert to the normal setup and operations once the NGCP grid line from Naga to Daraga has been restored and power is once again supplied from the grid.

EDC, with its subsidiary Bac-Man Geothermal, Inc., operates the 140-MW Bacon-Manito geothermal facility that spans Manito in Albay and Bacon in Sorsogon. It supplies clean and reliable power to the Luzon grid and to retail electricity customers.

EDC has more than 1,200 MW of installed geothermal capacity, which accounts for about 62% of the country’s geothermal capacity.