DoE announces Malampaya maintenance schedule for Q3
THE Malampaya natural gas platform will undergo maintenance for two days on July 22 and 23, involving preliminary work on the 504-kilometer undersea pipeline ahead of more extensive work in August.
The work scheduled for July involves “pigging,” or sending a remote device known as a “pig” down the length of the pipe to clean it and inspect for faults.
In a briefing note sent to reporters on Wednesday, the Department of Energy ( DoE) said the two- day preparatory work will have a “direct impact” on two facilities — one unit or 250-megawatts (MW) of the Sta. Rita power plant in Batangas City, which will not be supplied with natural gas for two days; and the other 250- MW unit of the same plant, which is expected to be on a planned shutdown during that period.
“Schedules of this maintenance work were timed to coincide with planned shutdowns of First Gas (Power Corp.),” the DoE said, quoting Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella.
“Also these are weekends so demand for power is anticipated to be low,” the department added.
In September, the DoE said planned maintenance work is also scheduled for the fourth weekend. It said the scope of the shutdown would be a combination of preventive and corrective maintenance work.
It said the preventive maintenance component will cover “testing of shutdown valves” and “emergency depressurization systems tests.” Corrective maintenance work will involve “heat exchange repair,” it added.
Three plants will be directly hit by the work on September 23 and 24 — the 250-MW unit one of the Sta. Rita plant, the 600- MW unit one of the Ilijan plant in Batangas City and the 250-MW unit one of the San Lorenzo plant in the same city.
Ilijan will not be supplied with natural gas for two days while San Lorenzo will be on a planned shutdown on those dates.
The planned work in August is estimated to last for 21 days, the DoE said, while the program for September will last for a week.
Lopez-led First Gas owns and operates the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants, while Kepco (Ilijan) Corp. handles the Ilijan power plant. —