Mindanao areas face new power interruptions

DIGOS CITY, Philippines — Power consumers in some Mindanao areas should expect little relief from the summer heat as the National grid Corp. (NGCP) has announced it will shut down an important power-generating facility.

Godofredo Guya, manager of the Davao del Sur Electric Coop. (Dasureco) here, said NGCP told them that the power outages might start during the Holy Week and could last the entire summer.

Guya said NGCP explained that it needed to remove a buildup of silt in the turbines of its Pulangui plant in Bukidnon.

“The water cannot enter into the Pulangui plant because of mud from flash floods and soil erosion, so they need to clean it,” he said.

As a result of the shutdown, provinces such as Davao del Sur will lose up to eight megawatts of electricity.

The Pulangui hydroplant generates 200-megawatts of power.

Guya said affected electric cooperatives are now looking for alternative sources to prevent long hours of power interruptions.

For example, he said that Dasureco is talking with Therma Marine Inc., which operates power barges in Maco in Compostela Valley and Nasipit in Agusan del Sur.

“The clearing operation was expected to take long,” he said.

But Guya admitted that even with the expected electricity from the power barges, Dasureco consumers could still experience daily power outages.

“If our capacity is really short, we need to implement rotating brownouts but not longer than six hours,” he said.

Another effect of a power contract with Therma Marine is that rates would be higher than usual because the barges use diesel, the cost of which is high because of the Middle East crisis, Guya said.

Guya said Dasureco was also looking for other sources it projected that its current allocation from the NGCP, which he did not specify, would not suffice in the coming years. He pointed to the growing investments in the industrial zone of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur as one reason for the growing power demand. (report from Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao)