Napocor sales up 6.7% in first nine months

State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) reported yesterday that its energy sales for the first nine months of 2001 rose 6.7 percent to 28,149.4 gigawatthour (GWh), from 26.383.4 GWh in the same period last year.

A GWh is equivalent to one million kilowatthours (KWh).

Napocor’s market analysis and load forecasting division (MALFD) said all three major grids registered higher sales, with the Visayas grid posting sales of 2,442.4 GWh and registering the highest growth of 8.5 percent.

The increase was attributed mostly to the uptake in the purchase of utility customers as well as higher electricity requirements of directly connected industrial firms.

MALFD said, sales to Aboitiz Land increased by 32.3 percent while sales to directly connected industries such as Philphos, PASAR and Grand Cement Corp. increased by 17.9 percent.

The Luzon grid posted a seven-percent growth in sales to 21,684.8 GWh compared to last year’s 20,269.2 GWh. MALFD attributed this growth to the higher electricity purchase of the utilities sector which posted a robust double-digit growth.

Total sales to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which accounts for 76 percent of Napocor’s market in Luzon, registered a 7.1-percent increase year-on-year.

The MALFD said the increase in the Luzon sales could be partly attributed to intermittent shutdowns of Meralco’s independent power producer (IPP) Quezon Power Ltd. due to technical problems.

Also contributing to the higher sales for Luzon is a 50-percent increase in the electricity usage of the chemical manufacturing sector.

The Napocor also reported sales to the steel industry increased by 8.9 percent during the period.

Sales to the cement sector, meanwhile, dipped by almost a percent due to Republic Cement’s decision to source half of its power requirement from Mirant Phils. Inc., another IPP.

Major utilities Davao Light and Power Co. and Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. accounted for the bulk of the 4.1-percent increase in total sales in the Mindanao grid which reached 4,022.2 GWh from 3,862.1 GWh posted for the same period last year.

However, the strong purchasing trend exhibited by these utilities was mitigated by a reduction in the operating hours and production by cement firms Alson Cement Corp. and Iligan Cement Corp. and mining firm, Manila Mining Corp.

Napocor said the irregular operation of these and similar firms was cited as the reason for the 7.3-percent drop in sales to directly connected industries.