Napocor: Power supply to normalize soon
07/26/2007 | 11:08 AM
(Updated 11:36 a.m.) After an unusual rainfall shortage that caused recent selective blackouts in parts of Luzon and Metro Manila, the National Power Corporation (Napocor) assured the public that power supply will go back to normal in the next few days after it resorted to other means of generating and conserving energy.
While appealing to the public to conserve energy, Napocor president Cyril Del Callar on Thursday said the firm will start relying on non-water thermal plants to generate sufficient energy and that cloud seeding operations were already underway.
"So we are optimistic that there would be no more outages in the coming days and weeks," Del Callar said in Filipino during an interview on dzMM radio.
He said that they will be mainly using "available plants" that are powered by oil, gas, and coal.
Del Callar, however, said a delay in the supply of coal was possible since heavy rains have been rampaging the countries that supply coal to the Philippines like Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.
The Napocor chief also said that for two weeks now, cloud seeding operations over the Angat Dam and San Roque have been ongoing.
However, Del Callar clarified that the cloud seeding was intended not to raise water levels in the dams but instead to lower the atmosphere's temperature.
"A decrease in temperature by one centigrade helps conserve about 100 megawatts of energy in Metro Manila," he said.
"And that's a big help because saving 100 megawatts means not using oil, coal, and water," he said, adding that around 600,000 to one million liters of oil are needed to produce that amount of energy.
Del Callar said that the Palace on Wednesday ordered the addition of two airplanes in the daily cloud seeding operation over Metro Manila.
President Arroyo raised the warning on a possible power and water shortage following a meeting with senior government officials in Makati City.
The country is on the verge of a possible drought, after rains that were supposed to fall this month never came.
Peak hours
Meanwhile, Napocor appealed to residents, particularly those from Metro Manila, to watch their electricity consumption between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"We hope people will be careful in using electricity especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This is the time when electricity use peaks," Del Callar said in Filipino during a separate interview on dzBB radio Thursday.
In the meantime, he assured residents that the Napocor has confirmed the delivery schedules of fuel, including coal, natural gas, oil, diesel and bunker fuel for non-hydroelectric plants.
Del Callar also said Napocor is undertaking cloud-seeding operations to induce rains that he said can help ease the water shortage and bring down the temperature.
Other power sources
For its part, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it has appealed to businesses to use their "idle" generators instead of buying power from Napocor.
Energy Undersecretary Melinda Ocampo, in a separate interview, said she met as early as Monday with representatives of industries and energy agencies to map out contingency plans.
"Water supply will be tight. This is our problem, we want to as much as possible have a continuous supply of electricity," she said.
She said she asked industries with "idle" generators to use their generators first before buying power from Napocor. - GMANews.TV
While appealing to the public to conserve energy, Napocor president Cyril Del Callar on Thursday said the firm will start relying on non-water thermal plants to generate sufficient energy and that cloud seeding operations were already underway.
"So we are optimistic that there would be no more outages in the coming days and weeks," Del Callar said in Filipino during an interview on dzMM radio.
He said that they will be mainly using "available plants" that are powered by oil, gas, and coal.
Del Callar, however, said a delay in the supply of coal was possible since heavy rains have been rampaging the countries that supply coal to the Philippines like Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.
The Napocor chief also said that for two weeks now, cloud seeding operations over the Angat Dam and San Roque have been ongoing.
However, Del Callar clarified that the cloud seeding was intended not to raise water levels in the dams but instead to lower the atmosphere's temperature.
"A decrease in temperature by one centigrade helps conserve about 100 megawatts of energy in Metro Manila," he said.
"And that's a big help because saving 100 megawatts means not using oil, coal, and water," he said, adding that around 600,000 to one million liters of oil are needed to produce that amount of energy.
Del Callar said that the Palace on Wednesday ordered the addition of two airplanes in the daily cloud seeding operation over Metro Manila.
President Arroyo raised the warning on a possible power and water shortage following a meeting with senior government officials in Makati City.
The country is on the verge of a possible drought, after rains that were supposed to fall this month never came.
Peak hours
Meanwhile, Napocor appealed to residents, particularly those from Metro Manila, to watch their electricity consumption between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"We hope people will be careful in using electricity especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This is the time when electricity use peaks," Del Callar said in Filipino during a separate interview on dzBB radio Thursday.
In the meantime, he assured residents that the Napocor has confirmed the delivery schedules of fuel, including coal, natural gas, oil, diesel and bunker fuel for non-hydroelectric plants.
Del Callar also said Napocor is undertaking cloud-seeding operations to induce rains that he said can help ease the water shortage and bring down the temperature.
Other power sources
For its part, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it has appealed to businesses to use their "idle" generators instead of buying power from Napocor.
Energy Undersecretary Melinda Ocampo, in a separate interview, said she met as early as Monday with representatives of industries and energy agencies to map out contingency plans.
"Water supply will be tight. This is our problem, we want to as much as possible have a continuous supply of electricity," she said.
She said she asked industries with "idle" generators to use their generators first before buying power from Napocor. - GMANews.TV
