Mindanao suffers long brownouts

Source: Manila Bulletin
BUTUAN CITY – Mindanao is now suffering from as long as eight hours of brownouts as the shutdown of all the power generating plants in the Agus complex is now imminent with the water level at Lake Lanao dropping from the normal 701 meters to 698.9 meters, it was learned Monday.

It was also learned that because of the current very low water level, hydroelectric plants might temporarily shut down in a few days from now to avert further damage to its turbines that resulted in wide power curtailment in the island.

As a result, technical engineers of National Power Corporation (Napocor) had been forced to shut down 11 of the 20 generators at the Agus complex, and only two of the three generating plants at the Pulangi hydropower complex continued to run in Maramag, Bukidnon.

Napocor said this was why power outages had become longer, from six up to eight hours in some areas in the island. Pedro Ambos, officer-in-charge of operations and planning division of Napocor, said the state-owned technical men decided to turn off temporarily some of its turbines “to save water” and “avert damages.”

On the other hand, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in its latest advisory said the grid demand is at 1,447 megawatts while the generated supply is only 903 mW. There is a shortfall of 544 mW in the entire Mindanao.

As this developed, NGCP continues to monitor power grid conditions in round-the-clock basis, it was gathered.

In a related development, Mindanao leaders on Sunday has called the national government for the immediate release of the P10 billion calamity funds as power and agriculture problem continues to worsen in the island due the dry spell brought about by El Niño weather disturbance.

El Niño phenomenon severely hit the agriculture and hydroelectric power plants in the region since late January, this year.

The Mindanao law makers and local chief executives urged the national government for the fast-tracking of the release of the calamity funds as power consumers and farmers continuously suffered from the onslaught of dry spell.

Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco T. Matugas and governors and mayors has called for the immediate release of the calamity funds to address the power and agriculture problem.

They said this calamity fund is a “big help” to the farmers and power problem.

“We hope that this calamity fund will be released as early as possible,” said Rep. Matugas of the first district of Surigao del Norte.

“I also hope that this calamity fund will be properly distributed,” also said Agusan del Sur solon Rep. Plaza.

Cagayan de Oro second district Rep. Rodriguez is also calling for the creation of a multi-sectoral calamity fund management task force.

Rodriguez suggested that an initial P5.5 billion calamity fund would be used to purchase modular generating sets to generate additional capacity of 160 mWin Mindanao.

“I also asked for additional P4.5-billion funds for immediate assistance to farmers affected by the dry spell in Mindanao,” added Rodriguez.

Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel, Agusan del Norte Gov. Erlfe John Amante, Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, Lanao del Norte Gov. Khalid Q. Dimaporo, North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Pinol and other governors and mayors in Mindanao also voiced the same tune to address the worsening power problem.

Due to El Niño, damage to agriculture has breached the R8 billion mark nationwide, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.

In its March 13 report, the NDCC said the estimated cost of production loss has reached P8,097,643,386, affecting some 693,732.43 hectares.

Meanwhile, the Zamboanga City government has allocated a remarkable amount drawn from the over P70 million calamity fund of the city to purchase electric power generators for the local and national government offices in this city and infuse additional P2.7 million in local funds to further finance the cloud seeding operations of the Department of Agriculture.

The City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) headed by Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat convened on Friday and adopted at least eight resolution all geared towards the immediate solution of the power crisis besetting the city for the past few months now. (With a report from Nonoy E. Lacson)