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Power supply uncertain due to dry spell, plant maintenance


Luzon's power supply situation remains uncertain since many of the grid's coal-fired plants are on "preventive maintenance" and hydropower facilities deal with below normal water levels. Power outages hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces on Monday after a unit of the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Sual plant in Pangasinan conked out due to a technical problem. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines declared a "red alert" as the incident cut reserves to zero, although officials yesterday said the situation was resolved late on Monday. The Luzon grid, however, remains under "yellow alert", meaning reserves are dangerously low. Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) chairman Arthur J. Young Jr. expressed concern over the supply situation. "Obviously we lose productivity when power is down. The 'yellow alert' level is a concern to us," said Young, whose organization represents firms responsible for the country's main export. NGCP, the private operator of the country's transmission lines, said Sual's Unit 1 came back online at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, with an initial load of 225 MW that was later increased to 531 MW. The grid's reserve level was said to be at 201 MW as of yesterday afternoon, well below the required 1,000 MW. A total capacity of 6,521 MW was said to be available, with peak demand estimated at 6,320 MW. Officials said one reason for the thin reserve was the fact that many of the grid's coal plants are under preventive maintenance. These include Quezon Power's 460-MW facility, Ilijan's 600-MW Block B unit, and the 620-MW Limay plant. NGCP also reported that a 200-MW unit of the 600-MW Calaca plant was down due to a boiler tube leak. Even before the tripping of Sual's Unit 1, the plant's 647-MW Unit 2 was shut down last Jan. 8 due to a coal supply shortage. Energy secretary Angelo T. Reyes said many plants are under preventive maintenance in preparation for the May national elections. "The power plants have scheduled their maintenance shutdowns to avoid scheduling them during elections," he said in a statement. "We are just making sure. We don't want any reason or whatsoever that these power generators will go on maintenance shutdown during the elections. So they moved forward all of their maintenance shutdowns to avoid making excuses during the elections." Adding to the low supply in the Luzon grid are low water levels that have curbed output from hydropower plants on the island. National Power Corp. (Napocor) data show that water levels at the 200-MW Angat, 75-MW Ambuklao, 100-MW Binga, 23.50-MW Caliraya, 360-MW Magat, 100-MW Pantabangan, and the 345-MW San Roque are all under the "rule curve" -- below that required. Napocor spokesman Dennis S. Gana declined to state how output had been affected. "There is nothing constant in this as there are many factors. But we now cannot use the dams as much as we could (sic)," Gana said. Power generation is also not a priority for a multipurpose facility like Angat as drinking water comes first and irrigation is second. Carlito C. Claudio, deputy assistant chief technical officer of NGCP, said the "yellow alert" level would be lifted on Feb. 9, a day after an expected coal shipment for Sual's Unit 2 arrives. "Early part of February, by [the] 9[th], our situation will be okay," Claudio said in a telephone interview. The "yellow alert" status means outages for consumers should one of the remaining plants in operation trip. Jesusito H. Sulit, senior adviser to the NGCP president, claimed Luzon power supply would stabilize by the end of the month. He said Ilijan's two 200-MW gas turbines would go online on Jan. 29 while the plant's 200-MW steam turbine was scheduled to go onstream two days later. SEIPI's Young, meanwhile, said they were coordinating with Manila Electric Co. regarding power supply updates. "All we can do is to ensure that our backup power is in good condition," he said. — BusinessWorld

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