‘Normal’ power back this month

The Department of Energy is looking at resolving the power deficiency in the Visayas grid within this month, further addressing the rotational outages in some localities, including Cebu province.

In a press conference last Wednesday, DOE Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola said their office has been looking into the power situation the Visayas region.

“What we have in the Visayas region right now is the deficiency (of power supply) caused by the recent earthquake that happened in Ormoc City… there is around 200 to 300 megawatts capacity that is lacking for the Visayas region,” he told reporters.

He said the magnitude 5.4 aftershock in Ormoc City, Leyte that followed after the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Jaro town in July this year caused some power plants to become dysfunctional until now.

Delola said there was supposed to be a way to address the problem through the availability of the power capacity in the Luzon grid, which can actually provide 400 megawatts.

The interconnection between Luzon and Visayas, however, was also interrupted since there were equipment damaged by the earthquake.

Delola admitted that the power industry is now “very tight” in terms of power supply because of the earthquake.

“That is why in Cebu right now there is a rotational outage implemented. Not only in Cebu but also in some parts of the Visayas region,” he said.

He said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has informed that the link between Luzon and the Visayas will be repaired this month, restoring the normal power situation in Visayas.

“Hopefully within the month or before the month ends, we will already be able to address the shortage in the power supply in the Visayas region,” he said.

To further address the problem, he said, DOE is now stressing the importance of opening investment opportunities here in Visayas.

“We are really inviting more investors to build more power plants in Visayas…. We don’t mind what technology will be put in place as long as it addresses the need,” he said.

Top executives of DOE were in Cebu City yesterday for the Visayas leg of the energy investment forum and stakeholders conference, which aims to highlight energy programs, opportunities, development plans and policies, financing and best practices in the energy sector.