MANILA, Philippines — State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) powered up Pag-asa, Kalayaan Island yesterday.
Napocor switched on its 300-kilowatt (kw) power plant in Pag-asa Island, Kalayaan Island Group at the West Philippine Sea as the country celebrated its 123rd Independence Day.
“Following the successful series of test and commissioning of the facility this week, we have seen that it is only fitting to formally switch on the power plant as the Armed Forces of the Philippines raises the Philippine flag on the island on Independence Day,” Napocor president and CEO Pio Benavidez said.
The state-run firm allotted P33 million for the project that covered the supply, delivery and installation of the diesel generating sets, a 13.8-kilovolt (kV) distribution line and fuel oil storage tanks that will ensure continuous fuel supply.
Benavidez said the Kalayaan diesel power plant will provide round the clock power to the 68 facilities (housing facilities, government establishments and military camps) connected to the local distribution line.
Kalayaan Island, a fifth-class municipality under the provincial government of Palawan, has an airport runway, a daycare center, an elementary school, a fish landing center, a naval port, a municipal health center, and a couple of government offices like Comelec and Pagasa weather station. It opened to civilian settlement in 2002.
Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, Napocor is mandated to provide power generation and its associated power delivery systems in areas that are not connected to the transmission system, which include remote villages in Mindanao, Palawan and Mindoro.
Napocor operates 276 small plants in 189 municipalities across 35 provinces in the country.