Power crisis triggers finger-pointing

WITH no near-term solution in sight, Mindanao’s power shortfall has triggered finger pointing among industry players, with the government blaming the crisis on the private operator of the country’s electricity grid, which in turn held responsible the owner of a number of power plants in the region. In a press conference on Friday, Department of Energy (DOE) Jose Rene Almendras said the government has put to task the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) for the spate of brownouts that hit parts of Mindanao since last month amid reports from state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) that the region had ample supply of electricity.

“It is not an ultimatum. We want to understand what is happening. There are so many questions today that could not be answered because the people we are talking to are people from here and not from [Mindanao],” he said.

Mindanao personnel of NGCP, which operates the country’s power transmission highway, failed to heed the DOE chief’s invitation to explain the region’s unreliable power supply.

Mindanao suffered from long stretches of brownouts at the start of the year after the prolonged dry spell crippled the area’s hydroelectric generating plants, which under normal conditions provide about half of the region’s power supply.

Recent rains have improved these plants’ output while cooler weather has tempered demand, but parts of Mindanao still suffer from power service interruptions of up to five hours.

Napocor claimed that NGCP, which last year won the 25-year contract to operate the country’s power grid, had failed to maximize the dispatch of the state-owned firm’s power plants.

“I am told hindi buong Mindanao may problema, pero I hear complaints from everybody,” Almendras said.

In a separate press conference, Henry Sy Jr., NGCP president, however said the company’s facilities in Mindanao are capable of bringing electricity from power plants to distribution utilities.

“Don’t blame us because figures do not lie. Insufficient power supply – that is really the problem,” he said, citing data collated from Napocor and other industry players.

Based onthe said data, brownouts consistently hit Mindanao after September 13. This was brought about by a reduction in the available generating capacity after Aboitiz Power Corp. (AP), through its unit Therma Marine Inc., pulled the plug on the company’s two power barges.

The power barges, which AP acquired from a state auction, have a combined capacity of 200 megawatts, or more than enough to fill the supply deficiency in Mindanao.

AP, however, has yet to sign a power supply deal with electricity distributors in the region for the power barges’ output. The company instead inked a contract with the NGCP that provides for the use of the two barges only for ancillary services or back-up power supply.

NGCP said that AP should deploy its power barges to improve Mindanao’s supply, at least for the short-term.

The grid operator also proposed that the government take the available capacity from AP, as it would be in a position to offset the power barges’ high rates by blending these costs with Napocor’s hydroelectric plants, which produce relatively cheaper electricity.

“The high cost charged by [Therma Marine] for these diesel-run power barges may be a reason why [it] is unable to secure a power supply contract with distribution utilities,” NGCP said. –EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO REPORTER, Manila Times