DOE chief orders fast-track rehabilitation of nation’s power plants

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras has ordered utilities that bought government assets to fast track the rehabilitation of power plants to mitigate the worsening power crisis in the country.

“I have given two or three letters already to the companies that bought government assets, pleading with them to accelerate the rehabilitation,” he said in a radio interview.

Almendras said the rehabilitation of power plants is needed since the country is in need of at least 300 megawatts (MW) of power this year and another 300 MW in 2012, based on the projection of the Department of Energy.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the power distribution company, said in an Oct. 9 advisory that Mindanao is in need of at least 108

MW this year; Visayas, 141 MW; and Luzon, 686 MW.

Because of the lack of power supply in Mindanao, the NGCP has once more resorted to power curtailment, forcing local-power utilities to resort to rotating brownouts.

In this capital city of Northern Mindanao, the Cagayan de Oro Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) is imposing two-hour rotating brownouts due to the “continuing power-supply curtailments imposed by the NGCP all over Mindanao.”

“According to NGCP, the power supply shortage is due to the maintenance outage of NPC’s Pulangi 4 (Unit 1) and Agus 6 (Unit 1) hydroelectric plants; nonoperation of Therma Marine’s two power barges; and reduced capabilities of some other NPC hydro plants,” Cepalco said in an Oct. 8 advisory.

Almendras also batted for renewable-energy projects and nonhydropower sources such as coal to insulate the country from power outages.

He said that 300 applicants have already submitted applications for renewable-energy projects in his office.

He said a combination of these power-generation plants are needed to effectively insulate the country from widespread blackouts like what happened in the early 1990s.

For Mindanao, the Energy chief said the island should not just rely on hydro-power plants for its energy needs.

“Our problem in Mindanao is our overdependence on hydropower,” he said, explaining that with climate change now a reality coupled with the El Niño phenomenon, water resources get scarce, threatening power supply in Mindanao.

He said the island needs at least 500 MW of nonhydro baseload generation capacity “since we cannot predict exactly what the water levels will be in Mindanao in the coming years.”

Mindanao presently gets more than 50 percent of its power requirements from hydropower plants operated by the National Power Corp. (NPC).

With this situation, coal-fired power plants become a necessity to supply the needed power demands of the island.

Northern Mindanao, particularly Misamis Oriental, is host to a 200-MW coal-fired power plants operated by the STEAG State Power Inc., which is composed of

Aboitiz Power Corp., Evonik Steag GmbH of Essen, Germany, and the La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp.

Conal Holdings Corp. of the Alcantara clan is also reported pushing with their 200-MW coal-fired power plant project in Sarangani province.

The Aboitiz Power Corp. is also adamant in pushing through with its P15-billion, 200-MW fluidized-bed coal power plant in Davao City, said Erramon Aboitiz, chief operating officer.

Aboitiz said this coal plant is expected to start operation in 2014.

“The company sees a coal plant as the best source of electricity from the standpoint of reliability, affordability, and safety,” he said in explaining why the company is diversifying into coal plants instead of building more hydropower plants in Mindanao. –Bong D. Fabe / Correspondent, Businessmirror