Resolving the growing demand for power

CEBU, Philippines - Power generation deficiency has resulted in a series of brownouts in Cebu as several power plants in the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid or the Visayas grid underwent either emergency repair or shutdown.

Department of Energy Undersecretary Ina Asirit, in her report, cited that the average Visayas grid demand stands at 1,325 megaWatts daily but the plants in the Visayas can generate only about 1,176 mW of dependable capacity.

"There is a deficit as evinced by these numbers. It is prudent then that while we look into the creation of new generation facilities in the future, we also need to look into initiatives which will allow us to extend our current supply to meet the current demand," Asirit said.

Power outages/rotational brownouts

On February 1, 2010, leaders of Cebu 's business community were hoping for quick solutions after a 200-mW shortfall in power supply for the Visayas that occurred on January 30, 2010.

This was when the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines announced the 200-mW power shortage and explained it needed 10 days to conduct preventive maintenance on the Mahanag-ong geothermal power plant in Leyte.

Other major power plants in Cebu was also be unavailable. The 50-mW Cebu Thermal Power Plant 1 was not operating because it was undergoing maintenance works until February 15.

Two gas turbines in the Naga Power Plant complex, capable of generating 44 mW, were reportedly not operating because of the failure to deliver fuel at the time.

Four months after, on June 28, 2010, power shortage hit again as the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid fell short of as high as 250 mW in the morning peak and 159 mw in the evening peak-all because some power plants were either operating in a de-ated capacity or not operating at all.

Amid that shortage, power distributor Visayan Electric Company (VECO) resorted to rotating brownouts in different sites within its franchise area.

During this time, Cebu's eight power plants, with a total capacity of 500 mW, were only operating at a 372-mW capacity.

On July 12, 2010, power shortage once again hit the CNP grid resulting in rotational power outage for one and a half hours among areas in Mandaue City, Cebu City and Naga City, and the towns of Consolacion and Minglanilla.

This was after the Cebu Power Thermal I in Naga was out of the grid while the Leyte-Cebu submarine cable was already overloaded.

VECO said the CNP grid (where VECO belongs) remained to be of great concern in the next months but with no available power reserves.

On Ocotober 5, 2010, rotational brownouts got worse as the National Grid Corporation's transmission line in Naga-Sigpit tripped-off at 2:34 in the morning.

Although it was restored at 7:30 in the morning the same day, such unexpected trip-off of the transmission line caused the two coal-fired power plants (combined capacity of 160 mW) of the Cebu Energy Development Corporation (CEDC) to get out of the CNP grid.

As a result, the CNP grid, which already sustained a power supply shortfall for the past several months, suffered an additional 160-mW supply shortage.

VECO, which has been getting 115 mW daily from CEDC, was left with no choice but to resort to rotating brownouts.

VECO spokesperson Ethel Natera said that the firm's power consumers in Metro Cebu and in towns as far as Liloan in the north and San Fernando in the south experienced at least two-hour rotational brownout.

Engineer Rey Maleza, supervisor of DOE-Energy Industry Management Division, said that for several months, six power plants connecting the CNP grid underwent either preventive maintenance or repair.

Maleza said that, from July to September, Cebu has no power interruption, a situation that was attributed to CEDC's two power plants that made Cebu's power supply stable.

On October 9, 2010, DOE announced that power interruption in Cebu was over, at least temporarily, as the four power plants that were shutdown in the CNP were back on line. This made power supply more stable after the two units of CEDC, as well as the combined 100 mW of Cebu Thermal Power Plants 1 and 2 were synchronized to the grid

On December 10, 2010, CEDC's third unit (with a net capacity of 82 mW) was also synchronized in the CNP grid.

CEDC president Jesus Alcordo however explained that the third unit was still subject for testing and commissioning, which meant that the total net capacity of 82 megawatts was not yet fully synchronized to the grid.

On December 14, 2010, VECO announced that it was not discounting the possibility of a "frequent and longer rotating outages or brownouts" in its franchise area, if its power supply contract with the National Power Corporation will be reduced from 240 mW per day to 75 mW per day starting December 26, 2010.

Natera said VECO officials were shocked when they received, on December 6, 2010, a Letter of Agreement-Extension of Contract for the Supply of Electric Energy (CSEE) with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management, addressed to VECO president Dennis Garcia.

Natera said that the letter informed VECO that the contract was only for 75 mW, a much lower capacity compared to its original contract of 240 mW.

"We believed that a fair proportionate allocation of the Napocor capacity available for contract extension for VECO should be no less than 60 percent also. Otherwise, the possibility of massive power shortages in 2011 of up to 100 mw within VECO's franchise area cannot be discounted. This will result in more frequent and longer rotating outages/brownouts," Natera said.

VECO sources 60 percent of its power requirements from Napocor, making the power distributor its largest customer in the whole Visayas grid.

Of the total VECO power requirements, a maximum of 240 mW is sourced from Napocor-PSALM, a combined 105 mW from CEDC and Toledo Power Corporation, and the peaking requirement of 30 mW to 60 mW from the Cebu Private Power Corporation (CPPC).

The energy reform agenda

Asirit, in her keynote message during the Cebu Electric Cooperative III's 25th Annual General Membership Assembly, said that the Energy Reform Agenda, which is a blueprint of how energy should be procured and utilized in the country, is now a work in progress. This blueprint is like having an energy plan that will align itself to the needs of the country, she said.

DOE said that, for the Visayas power situation, more generating plants will soon operate like the CEDC's third unit that is expected to be in its full operation, the coal-fired plant from Panay Energy Development Corporation and the coal-fired plant from KEPCO-Salcon.

By 2013, the Panay Biomass and Nasulo Geo will be added to the CNP grid, and by 2015, theGreen Power Samar. These power plants will add 683 mW for the next five years.

Currently, the average Visayas grid demand stands at 1,325 mW but the existing power plants in Visayas can generate only about 1,176 mW of dependable capacity.

With this power deficiency, the DOE said its target would be to use 60 percent of the country's indigenous resources via aggressive exploration of oil and gas, coal, and renewable resources, which in turn would help the country save immensely on costs of importing these resources. — RAE (FREEMAN)