Mindanao power outages seen to drop to 2 hours
MANILA, Philippines - The power situation in Mindanao has improved with the partial restoration of Steag State Power Inc. (SPI)’s 210-megawatt coal-fired facility, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said.
“With Steag back, the situation has improved. Although I expect blackouts to continue, it would now be down to two hours from an average of six hours,†Petilla said.
He said the onset of the rainy season is expected to improve the situation as rains would improve the water level of the hydropower plants.
On Wednesday, Steag resumed operations of one of its two electric generators after more than two months since the facility shut down and triggered an island-wide blackout in Mindanao on Feb. 27.
SPI is a German-owned power producer, which operates the 210- megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental.
In an advisory last week, SPI power plant manager Carsten Evers said the resumption of one of the electric generators would boost supply in Mindanao and provide relief to the rotational blackouts currently being experienced in some parts of the island.
The plant’s power unit 2 went online at 8:55 p.m. on Wednesday and was able to supply power to the Mindanao grid ahead of its modified May 8 target.
“We are happy to announce that SPI has added up 105 MW to the grid and we hope this will provide some relief in the power supply condition of Mindanao,†Evers said.
Following this, the German-owned power operator said the company is continuously working to complete the repair of unit 1 and put it on line on or before June 1.
“We recognize the necessity and urgency of bringing the units back on line and rest assured that we are doing our best to restore our full capacity the soonest possible time†Evers said.
The SPI plant has two identical electric generators, each with a net generating capacity of 105 MW, or a total combined net generating output of 210 MW.
Mindoro suffers power outages
Just like in other parts of the country, the provinces of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro are also experiencing power outages.
Almost every day, blackouts hit a majority of the more than 138,000 member-consumers in one city and 14 towns of Oriental Mindoro and in some parts of Occidental Mindoro.
Romeo Cuasay, general manager of Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ormeco), said one of the two power generators of Power One Corp., an independent power producer, bogged down.
Cuasay said the situation was worsened by the intense summer heat which almost depleted the water source of the Linao-Cawayan and Dulangan hydropower plants.
The power generators of the National Power Corp. in this city are also showing signs of bogging down due to over-heating, he said.
Lightning hits power lines
In Bataan, power was cut for two hours in five municipalities and one city after lightning hit the power lines of Peninsula Electric Cooperative (Penelco) in Orion town on Friday.
Among the towns affected by the power outage were Pilar, Orion, Limay, Mariveles and Bagac, and the city of Balanga. Investigation showed the lightning struck at around 5 p.m.
Report said the power outage did not last long in some areas after Penelco and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines shifted the load to the Hermosa line, also in Bataan. – With Juancho Mahusay, Ric Sapnu
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