Gov. Tanco sees a probable severe power shortage
Orders Capelco GM to look into the situation ASAP
Part 1
On September 15, 2009 at 10:00 AM, Governor Vic Tanco held a meeting with CAPELCO GM Edgar Diaz in his Provincial Capitol Office. With him were Dodoy Tanco, Federico Pastelero, consultant and his special assistant for Energy, Mike Corro.
Gov. Tanco, fully aware that the contract between CAPELCO and NAPOCOR will expire on Dec. 25, 2009, called CAPELCO GM Edgar Diaz for a meeting to discuss the status of the power supply after Dec. 25.
Diaz said he had been desperately trying to find an alternate IPP to provide the power for CAPELCO because NAPOCOR sold their Panay Diesel Power Plant (NDPP) in dingle to SALCON Power Company (SPC). The takeover was March 26, 2009. To make matters worse, the 32 megawatt Power Barge 103 in Estancia is scheduled to pull out of Estancia for dry-docking in Batangas for 1 month. The Province of Capiz is already experiencing brownouts, mostly in the towns. SPP was unwilling to communicate with CAPELCO on the subject of a new contract and power cost. SPP right now provides around 45 megawatts to the Iloilo, Aklan and Capiz grids. It may not provide power to CAPELCO after Dec. 25. If it does, being an IPP, they won’t sign a contract for less than 5 years and will offer it at a price higher than Global Power’s new coal-fired plant. Pastelero said that SPC opts to supply power to the Iloilo grid, being closer. In fact, they may not operate at all if the Cooperatives do not agree to their price. Prevailing industry rates peg electricity from diesel-fired power plants at P8 to P9 per kWh depending on the oil prices in the world market and the peso-dollar exchange rate.
Engr. Edgar Mana-ay, who worked in the energy sector for more than 20 years, doubts if SPC will operate if the firm follows NPC’s subsidized rates. “If the price is doubled or tripled up to P9 per kWh, maybe they (SPC) will continue the operation of the dingle diesel plant,” Mana-ay said.
If SPC does not run PDPP, Panay Island will lose some 45-50 megawatts of power, compounding the power woes of the island which is already reeling from rotating brownouts. SPP has not corresponded with CAPELCO regarding the new contract and their price/kWh, Diaz reported.
GLOBAL POWER’s new 114 megawatt coal-fired power plant operates on October 2010 in Iloilo. However, 70 mw of this is already allocated for PECO and the remaining 74 mw for the Iloilo Power cooperatives.
The Lopez acquired PALINPINON geothermal power plant in Dumaguete seems to be the only power source able to supply CAPELCO’s power needs because of Power Barge 103’s pullout in Estancia for dry-docking and after the December 25, 2009 contract with NAPOCOR expires. At present CAPELCO’s power requirement for the province is 28 megawatts.
PALINPINON currently supplies some power to Panay Island through TRANSCO’S 138 kV submarine cable (85 mw capacity) from Negros Island. The rest of the power supplied comes from the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection grids when there is extra power available from the CEBU-LEYTE grid.
Mike Corro, tasked by the Governor to look into the situation, reported that TRANSCO, now the National Grid Corporation (NGC) had not yet implemented the Negros Panay Interconnection Uprating Project (NPIUP) plan to install the new land power 138 kV transmission lines from the Bacolod substation (SS) to the Magalona Cable Terminal Station (CTS). The existing 138 kV submarine power cable supplying electricity to Capiz and Aklan from this CTS to the San Juan CTS (Barotac Viejo) was already operating in full capacity at 85 megawatts.
Thus, a new 138 kV submarine cable was planned to be installed by NGC from the Magalona CTS to the San Juan CTS in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. NGC’s uprating project was deferred and the start-up date was not known yet when Corro made the inquiry on September 14, 2009 to the NGC office in Lapuz and the Cebu Negros Panay Interconnection Uprating Project (CNPIUP) office in Tagbak, Jaro. He said it will take at the least, a year to complete NGC’s NPIUP plan from start to completion. It cannot operate on time to avert the possible Dec. 26, 2009 power shortage.
For that reason, no additional power from PALINPINON can be expected by CAPELCO and AKELCO on December 26, 2009 to supply the power deficiency. The Panit-an power substation (9 mw) cannot provide the necessary power requirement of Roxas City (13.5 mw), let alone the whole Province. (To be continued)