Power crisis eases

Source: Manila Bulletin
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Wednesday that power supply situation in the Luzon grid already improved slightly with the Sual plant’s synchronization back into the grid, reducing the rotating brownouts to just one hour in some parts of Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Quezon, while Metro Manila was set to be spared from power interruptions.

In Mindanao, the Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) that was shut down for almost three weeks is now being operated by the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to help ease worsening power curtailment. Napocor started the operation of the 35-megawatt diesel power plant in Iligan City, it was learned Tuesday.

IDPP’s operation came as Napocor said the scope of “power crisis declaration” in Mindanao, recommended earlier by Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes, will stretch to over four months from April to July this year.

The timeframe was contained in Reyes’ proposal to support his recommendation to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the declaration of power crisis in the blackout-plagued suthern electricity grid.

But Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar and running mate Sen. Loren Legarda rejected the proposal, saying President Arroyo has sufficient powers to solve the energy crisis under the Electric Power Industy Reform Act (EPIRA).

Likewise, the Liberal Party (LP) said granting President Arroyo emergency powers is not the solution to the current power crisis in Mindanao, especially with the possible abuses in emergency purchases of energy sources.

In a press briefing at the LP headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Malacañang has to be blamed for failing to prepare for the potential power shortage in Southern Philippines, especially as the President's son sits as the chairman on the House Committee on Energy, Pangasinan Rep. Mikey Arroyo.

Based on documents submitted by Reyes, NPC stands to spend approximately P2.5 billion for the proposed lease of modular gensets to plug supply gap in heavily-stricken areas. The lease cost for gensets would be P687 million; while fuel accounts for P1.76 billion of the budget allocation.

Napocor President Froilan A. Tampinco said they planned to bring in additional 130 megawatts into Mindanao, through the lease of gensets alone.

“All we need for the power crisis declaration will be four months. We can readily tap suppliers for the gensets, so we can have that as a solution for the grid the soonest possible time,” the Napocor chief executive said.

NGCP also anticipates Calaca to go on-line after lunch Tuesday, hence, wiping out the expected generation deficiency in the grid.

Former Energy Secretary Francisco L. Viray, who helped solve the power crisis of the 90s, meanwhile, sounded off frustration at the fact that the country seems to have failed in learning the valuable lessons of the past crisis.

“This drought comes in cycles, so as long as Mindanao derives its power mainly from hydro (which the Renewable Energy Act encourages), sufficient reserve based on a drought condition must be the planning criterion,” he stressed.

Viray noted that the lesson impressed upon by the Ramos administration’s energy policy would be to plan for capacity “based on the requirement of a drought situation, which the Estrada and Arroyo administrations deemed excess capacity for the past years when normal hydro condition prevailed. So, we’re given the false impression that supply will always be normal, drought or no drought.”

Meanwhile, Lakas-Kampi-CMD senatoriables – veteran broadcaster Rey Langit, former justice secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello and Atty. Raul Lambino – asked the Department of Energy to tell the public the truth about the present condition of the country’s power supply.

The three issued the statements in view of the series of power block outs that affected several ares in Luzon region, particularly Metro Manila, after two power plants experienced breakdowns.

The effects of the El Niño phenomenon also forced the water level in several dams to critical which also affected the electricity generation of those facilities.

“I think the two basic questions the people want to be answered is that for how long these brownouts would occur and if we have enough electricity supply to ensure a brownout-free elections on May 10,” said Langit.

Langit said that it is on this aspect that he is batting for an emergency energy summit to determine the extent of the problem and eventually come up with the best solution.

Bello explained that it would be better for all the government officials and other stakeholders to discuss the problem among themselves than to express their opinion over the media, which sometimes result in public confusion. (With reports from Hannah Torregoza, Aris Ilagan, and Kris Bayos)