Daily Brownouts Grip Mindanao
Several provinces in Mindanao are now experiencing daily brownouts after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) started imposing load curtailment in 33 electric cooperatives as power supply has fallen due to alleged generation deficiency.
“The curtailment is Mindanao-wide. I don't know how many cooperatives there are but everyone is affected. (Power) reserves are in the negative.
We've been on Red Alert for several weeks now,” said NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez Alabanza.
Severely affected are the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, and most parts of Sarangani, which are now suffering power outages lasting one to six hours.
Also affected by the load curtailment are General Santos, Cotabato, Iligan, Surigao, Kidapawan, and Zamboanga.
Milfrance Capulong, NGCP corporate communications officer for Mindanao, said only Davao and Cagayan de Oro cities have so far not been affected by the power outages because of the sufficient resources of local power firms.
Davao City has a standby power plant, which helps avert blackouts at this time.
“We impose load curtailment to protect the stability of the (Mindanao) grid. Let's say that the grid is the national highway; everybody taps into the grid. Kung magkaroon ng problema yung grid, walang makakagamit ng kuryente maski may dumadaloy na kuryente,” Alabanza stressed.
“The current capacity of the grid is 1,200 megawatts. Pero mas mataas yung demand. Kung hindi magko-curtail, hindi kakayanin nung grid,” she added.
NGCP does not produce power but it is the private operator of the nation’s power transmission network.
The power outlook for Mindanao Saturday, based on the NGCP website, stood at 1, 067 megawatt while its system peak is 1, 216 mW.
Because of this, the NGCP placed the Mindanao’s power system condition under “Red Alert” status. Red Alert refers to a system condition when the contingency reserve is zero, or when a generation deficiency exists.
Mindanao grid experienced load curtailment from 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday.
“Actually, Mindanao’s power demand is 1,500 mW but because of the alleged power problem we have only 1,200 mW available. It’s good some electric coops have already initiated power tie-up with inland fossil plants, that’s why we are not severely affected by the power curtailment,” said Caraga Region Association of Electric Cooperatives president Architect Horacio T. Santos, general manager of Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative.
With the power situation in Mindanao under “Red Alert” status, a rotating power interruption is expected to hit the business community as the projected supply deficiency continues to worsen.
Last November, Mindanao was placed under “Yellow Alert,” a system condition where the total of all reserves is less than 13.2 percent of the required capacity.
Capulong said lack of supply during the system peak on the island led to the load curtailment.
However, she did not specify the reason for the deficiency – whether it was caused by maintenance shutdown of plants of power companies, reduced capacities of others, or rising demand.
“Curtailment in Mindanao is already daily not only to electric coops but to all customers. This is according to National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP),” said Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives president and general manager of Dinagat and Siargao Islands Electric Cooperatives Sergio Dagooc.
Because of the alarming situation and worsening power problem, Mindanao’s organized electricity-distribution cooperatives have called on the government to “act now and create a multi-sectoral committee to investigate and closely monitor the operations of Agus and Pulangi hydropower plants in Lanao and Bukidnon, respectively,” he said.
“President Aquino should create a multi-sectoral committee now to monitor the operations of the two hydropower plants which were said to be generating power below capacity, according to NGCP,” stressed Dagooc.
Joy Celeste Alora, information officer of the South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II), said the Mindanao grid has insufficient supply due to the reduced generation capacity of the National Power Corporation (NPC).
NPC operates hydropower plants that provide more than half of the island’s power supply.
Socoteco II suffered rotating brownouts lasting for 45 minutes to an hour in its franchise area.
Socoteco II serves General Santos City, the whole of Sarangani province with its seven towns and Polomolok and Tupi in South Cotabato.
“And the only way to continuously make available power resources to different areas is to impose curtailment,” Capulong said.
By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO and ELLSON A. QUISMORIO
MB.COM.PH
0 comments:
Post a Comment