Mindanao power outages reach up to 10-12 hours

By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Longer power outages of up to 10 to 12 hours have hounded a large part of Mindanao at the height of summer.

As of yesterday, Mindanao registered a power shortfall of 314 megawatts (MW), according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), forcing the different distributors on the island to curtail the available power supply.

Mindanao yesterday posted a power demand of 1,236 MW as against the actual supply of only 922 MW.

Various areas in northern, central and western Mindanao, South Cotabato and Misamis Oriental have lately been experiencing power outages of eight to 12 hours.

Mindanao is largely dependent on hydroelectric power but the water levels in two of its main sources, Lake Lanao in Marawi City and Pulangi River in Bukidnon, have been low and not enough for the Agus power plants to operate normally.

The worsening power situation has now affected Davao City, which has a standby power plant run by the Aboitiz-firm Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC).

DLPC officials yesterday said the rotating power outages within the utility’s franchise area have increased from one hour to two and a half hours starting Monday due to lower supply from the Mindanao grid – and could even reach six hours.

The NGCP said the National Power Corp.’s Agus 2, 4, 6 and Pulangi 4 hydroelectric power plants now have reduced capability due to low water elevation as a result of lack or absence of rainfall, forcing the Napocor to decrease its supply allocation to DLPC and other electric utilities.

As of 7:47 a.m. yesterday, the Napocor, through the NGCP, only allocated about 150 MW to DLPC from last week’s 180 MW – way lower than the utility’s contracted supply of 270 MW.

DLPC’s total energy supply is currently about 262 MW while its peak demand is estimated at about 320 MW, resulting in a deficiency of 58 MW. This shortfall translates to 2.5 hours of rotating outages.

With the lower Napocor allocation, Ross Luga, DLPC communication officer, said their only option now is to stretch the duration of the rotating power outages to avoid total collapse of the entire Mindanao transmission grid, which happens when the demand for power exceeds the available supply.