Malampaya outage estimate upgraded to 2,170 MW
THE Department of Energy (DoE) said that it is performing test runs on alternative fuel for power plants affected by the Malampaya maintenance shutdown.
Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella told reporters that 2,170 megawatts (MW) will be nonoperational during the 20-day maintenance period of Malampaya. This is slightly higher from the initially expected outage of 1,850 MW.
“The good news is Avion could run also on diesel, so it can deliver,” he said in a media briefing yesterday.
“There’s this one plant that can’t take diesel. It’s San Gabriel. That one will be down. So that added up to 2,170 MW. This is in addition to SLTEC units 1 and 2,” he said, referring to 121 MW of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp.
The following is a breakdown of affected capacity: 200 MW from Calaca 1 power plant, 456 MW from Quezon Power Philippines Ltd., 600 MW from block one of Ilijan, 414 MW from San Gabriel, and 180 MW out of the 600 MW of the second block of Ilijan plant, 121 MW from SLTEC Unit 1, 123 MW from SLTEC Unit 2, and 76 MW from of Tiwi Unit 5 and Unit 6.
The Malampaya gas project will undergo a shutdown maintenance from Jan. 28 to Feb. 16. The project, which is located offshore Palawan, accounts for up to 20% of the country’s electricity requirements.
The gas-to-power project is managed by a consortium composed of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. ( SPEX), Chevron Malampaya LLC, and state-owned PNOC Exploration Corp.
According to Mr. Fuentebella, DoE is exploring its options in order to cover the loss of energy supply during the period.
“On the distribution side, Meralco is running simulations and talking with the ILP (Interruptible Load Program) participants. There are some commitments like Ayala and SM. What we want to know is whether the commitments can cover 2,000 MW.”
He also said that Manila Electric Co. ( Meralco) will impose a power rate hike of it P1.44 per kilowatt hour ( kWh) in March, inclusive of value added tax ( VAT).
On top of this, the DoE off icial also said that the department is looking into tapping the renewable energy sector.
Meanwhile, DoE also said that power restoration is under way for households affected by recent typhoons.
In a statement, DoE said that National Electrification Administration (NEA) has reported that 80.69% or 1,368,040 of the total households affected by typhoon Nina have been re-energized as of 8 a.m. yesterday.
Moreover, the department said that National Grid Corp. of the Philippines noted that all transmission lines affected by tropical depression Auring in Caraga region are now completely restored. The same is true for transmission lines affected by typhoon Nina.
“Our priority is to ensure that the restoration of power in typhoonaffected areas is on schedule. We have asked rehabilitation personnel to work double-time, especially in areas where power facilities were badly damaged,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi in a statement.
Earlier this week, electricity supply was restored in the provinces of Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon, NEA said.
A total of 322,818 households are undergoing rehabilitation in the following areas with the following level of restoration: Quezon (92.89%), Oriental Mindoro (98.44%), Marinduque (28.79%), Camarines Sur (47.68%), Catanduanes (31.65 %) and Albay (64.20%)
“We understand and are one with our kababayans in the remaining areas still without power. We will make sure that electricity services in all areas are restored,” Secretary Cusi said. —