Visayas power supply viewed as ample in short term, can tap Luzon surpluses

ILOILO CITY — No major power shortage is expected in the Visayas in the immediate future with excess supply from Luzon expected to cover for any shortfall.

In a recent meeting of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Visayas Island Cluster in Iloilo City, former Energy Secretary Jericho L. Petilla said the Visayas need not worry about the prevailing El Niño’s impact on power supply with the region covered until at least the next three years.

“Visayas can handle it ( El Niño) because the portfolio of hydro plants is only small, unlike Mindanao where 50% of their power is coming from hydro,” Mr. Petilla said.

In the medium term, “supply will probably be at 1,700 megawatts (MW) but demand will be 1,900 MW daily, so there is a shortfall of 200 MW. But the 200 MW can easily be covered by Luzon. Luzon consumes 8,500 MW daily. If it has an excess of 1,000 MW, it can be passed on to Visayas,” he added.

As of yesterday the Visayas grid had an excess supply of 414 MW out of an available supply of 1,639 MW while Luzon had 3,535 MW to spare from a capacity of 10,068 MW, based on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippine’s (NGCP) supply monitoring on its Web site.

Jose Rey C. Maleza, supervising carrier analysis expert of the Department of Energy (DoE) in the Visayas, confirmed the anticipated stable supply in the country’s central islands.

“As long as all the plants are functioning, we will not have a problem here,” Mr. Maleza said.

“Having normal supply means our reserve can satisfy the required demand. If a big plant bogs down, our standby reserve can cover up. So only a short- term effect can be felt,” he added.

Meanwhile, the DoE official also gave assurance that mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that there will be no supply interruptions during Iloilo City’s hosting of Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings from the third week of September to early October.

DoE has scheduled a meeting with Iloilo’s power supplier, Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), and the NGCP to discuss contingency plans for the APEC activities.

“For Iloilo City, we have already determined priority areas such as the Iloilo Convention Center and hotels where the delegates will stay,” Mr. Maleza said.

He said they are considering isolating the PEDC during that period from the Visayas grid and directing all the supply to Iloilo City.