AQUINO: CRISIS REMAINS UNABATED TILL 2013
[PHOTO - NO FUN. One of a number of photo memes produced by residents
of Zamboanga City protest the recurring brownouts which is supposedly part of
the looming power crisis in Mindanao. (Photo from Teramoda
Collections/Facebook)
MANILA,
MARCH 25, 2012 (INQUIRER) By
Norman Bordadora - More electricity is being used in Mindanao than what the
power distributors there have contracted to buy from power generators.
This was the crux of the energy problem in Mindanao, according to President
Aquino who presided at a meeting with energy officials on the acute power
shortage in Mindanao which has been suffering rotating power brownouts from two
to four hours a day.
"Everybody is consuming more than what they contracted," Mr. Aquino told
reporters who were invited to observe some parts of the meeting but were asked
to leave when the discussions went into the cost of electricity in Mindanao.
During the meeting, which included Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair Lualhati Antonino, it was pointed
out that actual power capacity in Mindanao was only 1,180 while peak capacity
now stands at 1,300 megawatts.
"This represents everybody who uses power in Mindanao. There is a difference.
No one is consuming less than they contracted," Mr. Aquino said, while pointing
out on a PowerPoint screen the difference between the electricity being
generated and the amount being consumed.
Early warnings
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the private company that
operates and maintains the country's electricity transmission network, had
warned as early as last year of an impending power crisis in Mindanao, and urged
the construction of more power sources, including fuel-driven plants.
Last week, the NGCP said there was an "acute shortage" of electricity in
Mindanao, resulting in brownouts since the start of the year.
It said the Mindanao grid had a shortfall of 178 mW, an increase of 40 mW
from the 138 mW shortfall on Feb. 22. It attributed the increase in power supply
deficiency to the 38-mW drop in available capacity from 1,117 mW on Feb. 22 to
1,079 mW in mid-March.
Almendras earlier said the rotating daily brownouts in Mindanao were caused
primarily by the shortage of supply and the decision of the electric
cooperatives there not to purchase available, though more expensive, electricity
from fuel-fired power facilities.
He said the energy department would soon issue an order mandating electric
cooperatives to contract and purchase the necessary capacity to ensure adequate
and steady electricity supply.
Other officials have pointed out that Mindanao's heavy dependence on cheap
hydropower sources makes its power supply vulnerable to drought and decreasing
water levels in the watersheds.
According to Almendras, some electric cooperatives were overdrawing power
from the 700-mW Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex, preferring this to contracting
more capacities from the available diesel-fueled plants.
At Friday's meeting, the President said two power barges were already in
Mindanao to provide electricity. He said five more barges are on the way to
Mindanao to address the shortage.
"The users have to order (from the barges) for power to be generated,"
Almendras said.
Of the first two barges, only one is generating power for the island's
consumers because of the higher cost of generating electricity from such
diesel-fueled barges.
"One is already contributing to the grid, the other one isn't," Mr. Aquino
said.
When the discussions turned to how to keep the cost of electricity in
Mindanao at manageable levels despite the higher cost of power from the barges,
members of the media were asked to leave the room.
Almendras later told reporters that the power shortage is expected to last
only through 2013 as there are already enough projects underway to address the
lack of electricity by 2014 through 2016.
He said the government is looking at one possible solution—coal-fired power
plants that would generate 300 mW for Mindanao.
Coal is cheaper than diesel as a fuel source for the power generators, he
said.
'Fake' power crisis
But in Digos, Davao del Sur province, the head of the Davao del Sur Electric
Cooperative (Dasureco) said the reported power crisis in Mindanao was "unreal"
and "fake," blaming instead the power-curtailment scheme being implemented by
the NGCP.
"I do not believe that there is really an energy shortage in Mindanao," said
Godofredo Guya, the Dasureco manager.
He said despite the abundance of power in Mindanao, the NGCP "wanted to
punish" consumers by implementing rotational load curtailments using a fake
crisis.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the power outages are not due to any
transmission-related concerns and also not because the NGCP refused to fully
utilize the capacities of hydropower plants.
She said the power facilities of the state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor)
and those owned and operated by private power generation firms could not meet
the demand of customers in Mindanao.
"For the Mindanao grid, there is clearly a deficiency, considering that the
published reserves are 'gross reserves' that do not even include the required
regulating contingency and dispatchable reserves. These are reserves that are
utilized by the grid to regulate frequency and voltage, and to avoid a complete
grid shutdown in the event of an emergency power plant shutdown," Alabanza said
in a statement.
"It is possible that the data for rated capacities versus actual available
capacities could have been misread or misinterpreted by certain quarters. Our
data doesn't lie. We stand by the data (we have)," she said.
Alabanza said the NGCP was not withholding excess power to simulate a power
shortage.
"It does not benefit us to withhold supply as the NGCP cannot have a direct
or indirect stake or interest in the generation and distribution businesses,"
she said.
Hidden agenda
Asked why the NGCP was insisting on the load curtailment scheme, Guya said:
"I think there is a hidden agenda in this problem."
Bansalan, Davao del Sur Mayor Edwin Reyes said he suspected that the
power-curtailment scheme was aimed at benefiting private power generation
companies.
He said with that the staged power crisis, generation companies would make
more money from their fuel-fired plants because electric cooperatives, such as
Dasureco, would be forced to buy electricity from them to reduce the sufferings
of their consumers.
"It would mean more expenses on the part of the consumers and more money for
independent power producers," he said. Orlando Dinoy with a
report from Ryan Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao
FROM THE TRIBUNE
Power crisis to remain unabated—Palace By Rocky
Nazareno and Charlie V. Manalo 03/24/2012
Malacañang yesterday conceded that the power crisis in Mindanao will
remain unabated until 2013 even as it assured the region that it is already
fast-tracking efforts to increase base load capacity by contracting more power
barges and building coal-fired power plants.
The Mindanao power crisis has been going on for weeks on end, and it is only
now that President Aquino claims to be addressing it, but also already telling
the nation it must tighten its belt some more, as emergency measures to
temporary resolve the power crisis will raise the cost of electricity.
For many Mindanaoans, the power shortage is artificial, and that an energy
crisis has been created through these long blackouts, in order for Malacañang to
create an emergency situation where it can then justify the imposition of
emergency measures that would call for the contracting of power barges, which
would lead to overpriced purchases and graft-ridden contracts.
This was also what Aquino's mother, the late President Cory Aquino, resorted
to when the nation underwent six-hour blackouts twice a day. Contracts were
found to be overpriced and riddled with corruption.
The current power shortages in many parts of Mindanao could be a perfect
example of economic sabotage, a crime against the people, Davao City Rep. Karlo
Alexei Nograles said yesterday.
"Mindanao could not be lacking in power sources like its hydro power sources
and other power alternatives. I hope it is not human greed for the power of
money that is causing all our woes," Nograles said.
The Mindanao lawmaker strongly endorsed a congressional inquiry into the
continuing power blackout in many parts of Mindanao and other areas in the
Visayas.
"We have to pinpoint the real culprit. There must be an explanation to all
these unnecessary sufferings we are experiencing," he said.
At the same time, he lauded the reported decision of
transport authorities in Northern Mindanao to recude bus fares to help
residents recover from the damage caused by the recent tropical storm "Sendong."
"The order signed by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board
(LTFRB) chairman Jaime Jacob and the board members was grounded mainly on
humanitarian and charitable consideration. We salute this move," Nograles said.
According to Nograles, the Mindanao power problem could not have been
experienced without possible collusion, noting the under-capacity power output
of hydro-electric power plants.
"If it is found out that the power problem is but an artificial result of
sabotage, this is a crime which deserves the harshest of penalties," he said,
adding that Congress must also look into the loopholes of the law dealing with
economic sabotage and related statutes which must be amended.
On the part of Malacañang, it said that the "shortage really here is in 2012
and 2013. In 2014 to 2014, you have enough committed projects," Energy Secretary
Jose Rene Almendras in his brief on the Mindanao power crisis to Aquino.
Almendras gave the briefing to the President during a Cabinet meeting also
attended by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Mindanao Development
Authority chair Lualhati Antonino and Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda.
As of March 11, there was a shortfall of 151 megawatts (MWs) in Mindanao that
resulted in brownouts of as long as 15 hours in some areas and regular four-hour
outages in places such as North Cotabato.
But the government has since trimmed this down to 120 MWs on emergency
remedial measures undertaken, according to Almendras.
The Energy chief reported to the President that he was confident that the
rest of the power shortfall of 120 MWs but will only be completely addressed by
2013 as the government has already tapped seven power barges and is in the
process of rehabilitating the Agus IV hydropower plant.
Two additional barges with a total capacity of 200 MWs of Therma Marine Inc.
are poised to go on-line with the approval of a bilateral contract between the
energy company and local electric cooperatives.
Almendras likewise disclosed that two coal-fired plants with combined
generating capacity of 300 MWs will be operational by 2014.
Almendras underscored the urgency of the power crisis as he even issued a
department circular "directing compliance with the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act of 2001 or the Epira law to address the power supply situation
including the rationalization of the available capacities in the Mindanao grid."
In the same circular, the DoE itself noted that "the National Grid Corp. of
the Philippines (NGCP), since January 2012, has been issuing a 'red' alert
status in the Mindanao grid."
It said NGCP blamed this on "current generation deficiencies, ranging from 50
MW to 300 MW, brought about by various constraints in optimizing available
capacities." This ultimately caused the rotating brownouts in parts of the
region.
In that circular, the DoE directed the NGCP to "dispatch all available
capacities to meet the power requirements in Mindnao."
It also directed the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
(Psalm) and National Power Corporation (Napocor), which controls total installed
capacities of 982.1 MW of hydro and 518.1 MW of thermal power plants to "fully
utilize all available capacities of all power plants in the Mindanao region for
energy purposes, taking into consideration the fluctuating demand requirements
of large industrial users in the region."
But given the emergency measures the government had to take in addressing the
power crisis, including the contracting of power barges, electric costs would
eventually become higher in Mindanao.
"You will have to share the burden," Aquino said.
This may mean that even those in Metro Manila and Luzon may also be charged
higher rates for electric consumption.
Meanwhile, Power distributor Manila Electric Co. said Metro Manila may
experience the possibility of power interruptions after the breakdown of a key
transformer in Las Piñas City Thursday.
Meralco external communications manager Joe Zaldarriaga, however, allayed
fears of prolonged brownouts, saying it is taking measures to "avert potential
interruptions."
"We would like to inform our customers we are on alert and ready to respond
to whatever scenario as a result we are taking measure to avert potential
interruptions," he said in an interview on dzBB radio, adding that as of
yesterday, there has so far been no power cutoff as a result of the breakdown of
the transformer Thursday.
A day earlier, it was reported that some 57 Mindanao lawmakers crossed party
lines and filed a resolution demanding that the government "implement urgent and
necessary measures to alleviate the power supply situation in Mindanao."
House Resolution 2303 was filed last Thursday morning, with Cagayan de Oro
Rep. Rufus Rodriguez as the principal author, which slammed Energy Secretary
Almendras' inaction on the power crisis crippling the island, which has been
reeling from four-to-six hour rolling blackouts.
Aquino: There's power surplus in Luzon By Amy R.
Remo, Norman Bordadora Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:34 am | Saturday, March 24th,
2012
President Benigno Aquino III sought to clarify media reports of a
looming power crisis in Metro Manila that would result in lengthy power outages.
"There is a minimum 1,500 megawatt surplus in Luzon," Mr. Aquino told
reporters as he presided at a meeting of energy officials on the Mindanao power
crisis on Friday.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the National Grid Corp. of the
Philippines (NGCP) had been misquoted in the report about a looming power crisis
in the metropolis.
He said NGCP officials said they had actually averted a crisis through a
system already in place in the power grid.
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Friday said Metro Manila has been spared
from blackouts that could have ensued after a 300-megavolt ampere transformer at
the Zapote substation in Las Piñas City broke down last Tuesday.
Clarifying reports, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga stressed that "there
had been no blackouts nor brownouts as a result of the transformer outage."
There are, however, certain areas that do not have power but this was due
solely to the "scheduled maintenance services" as previously announced through
newspapers and social media outlets, Zaldarriaga said in a phone interview.
On Thursday, Meralco issued a statement, assuring the public that it had
already put in place the necessary measures that helped prevent a metro-wide
blackout over the past few days.
It admitted, however, that the breakdown of the transformer remained "a
serious concern" that should be addressed immediately.
The NGCP has assured the public that the so-called "N-1 contingency" of the
Luzon grid was and will continue to be able to avert a blackout that could have
affected thousands of Metro Manila residents.
In a separate statement, the NGCP explained that the "N-1 contingency"
referred to the ability of the power grid to withstand the loss of a major
system component with minimal disruption to the grid, as it has the necessary
reserves.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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