DAVAO CITY, July 22 (PNA) -– The Davao Light and Power Company has increased to two hours the rotating power interruptions in its franchise areas, as it continued to receive power supply deficit from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
Davao Light’s Corporate Communications Officer Roiss Luga said NGCP imposed a 130-megawatt (MW) deficit or curtailment in the Mindanao grid, prompting them to implement its one-hour rotating power interruptions beyond the schedule which is from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On Tuesday, NGCP advised an increase in the power supply shortage in Mindanao from Monday’s 60 MW to 130 MW as of Tuesday.
This situation has forced Davao Light and Power Co. to increase again the duration of its rotating power interruption from a maximum of one hour to two hours.
Luga disclosed that the peak demand on Tuesday for the entire Davao Light franchise is expected to reach as high as 325 MW. However, there’s still a huge shortage despite the power supply that Davao Light gets from Sibulan & Talomo Hydropower Plants, Therma Marine Inc., and its standby Bajada Power Plant, Luga said.
Given the unstable power situation, Luga said the duration of the rotating power interruptions may increase or decrease depending on the level of curtailment imposed by the NGCP at any given time of the day and the variability of the load of Davao Light relative to the time of the day.
Meanwhile, the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) noted water levels of Lake Lanao and Agus and Pulangi dams continued to drop in the past few days, breaching critical points as of 21 July 2015, based on data from the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) Mindanao Generation.
This was disclosed by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) on Wednesday. MinDa said the water level of Lake Lanao is at 699.24 meters above sea level (masl) as compared to the previous 699.26 on 17 July 2015. The normal high water level for the lake is at 701.10 masl, while the minimum operating levels is at 699.15 masl.
The water level of Agus 4 stands at 358.31 masl, which is nearing its minimum operating level of 357 masl, and is lower as compared to 358.88 masl a couple of days ago. The dam has a normal high water level of 359 masl.
Further, Pulangi 4’s water level is at 280.40 masl as compared to the previous 281.02 masl. The dam, which is located in Maramag, Bukidnon, has a normal high water level of 285 masl and minimum operating level of 282 masl. It is currently churning out just 20 MW out of 250 MW capacity, largely on account of siltation.
“The low water levels of the dams, which provide around half of Mindanao’s power supply, has brought down the capacity of the hydropower plants of the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Complexes. This resulted in lower power supply in areas in Mindanao,” MinDa office said in a statement.
It also cited the preventive maintenance shutdown (PMS) of the 105 MW Unit 2 of the 210 MW STEAG coal fired power plant of State Power Inc. (SPI) in Misamis Oriental. Unit 2 has been on PMS since 18 July 2015 and is expected to get back online on August 16.
As of 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, the NGCP noted that Mindanao has a power deficiency of -248 MW. This prompted Distribution Utilities and Electric Cooperatives to undertake measures as necessary such as voluntary load curtailment, activation of the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) and tapping of embedded modular generator sets.
Based on the latest monitoring of the MPMC, rotation brownouts for each Distribution Utilities and Electric Cooperatives in Mindanao are averaging at one to four hours per feeder.
On other hand, MinDa said the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (ZAMCELCO) is implementing one of the longest rotational brownouts at a maximum of nine hours per feeder, an average of seven hours, and a minimum of five hours. The Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative (ZAMSURECO) 2 is implementing a five hour brownout per substation while the Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative (SUKELCO) is implementing a five hour brownout per feeder. Surigao del Norte (SURNECO) is also implementing a 4.5 hour brownout per feeder in their franchise area.
The South Cotabato Electric Cooperative (SOCOTECO) 2 remains unaffected with load shedding, with modular genset providing stop gap supply. Likewise, the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (DASURECO) is also not implementing any rotational brownouts due to their 12 MW modular genset. (PNA)