Napocor urged to address power shortage in Visayas
Philippines Star, 23 January 2004
By DONNABELLIE L. GATDULA
The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) has urged the National Power Corp. , (Napocor) to do its p art in implementing short-term solutions to the impending po wer supply shortage in the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP.) areas.
In a presentation during a power summit held recently in Cebu , Napocor senior vice president Pio Benavidez said while Transco is ensuring that electricity could be transmitted in these three provinces, Napocor, on the other hand, should be able to produce the needed power.
Benavidez said the two companies have drawn up measures to prevent power shortages in the said areas.
The Napocor official said among the measures to ensure adequate and reliable power supply in the Visayas . region as drawn by the unified power task force (UPTF) composed of Transco, Napocor and the Department of Energy (DOE) are the immediate acquisition of a 25megawatt (MW) back-up power from Toledo Power Corp. and the emergency lease of 10-MW modular genset for Panitan, Panay.
Other measures eyed are the transfer of 32-MW power barge to Obrero, Panay ; transfer of 110-MW Pinamucan diesel plant to Dingle, Panay and uprating of Leyte-Cebu submarine cable an additional 200 MW
For Negros , the UPTF is also looking at the possibility of fast tracking the completion of the Northern Negros geothermal facility Victorias Bioenergy and the PNOCPalinpinon geothermal power by the last quarter of 2005.
Benavidez noted that based on the CNP grid scenariofor 2004, its present dependable capacity ranges from 717-722 MW which is already inclusive of 180-MW import power .from Leyte-Cebu interconnection as a against its projected peak demand ranges from 681-792 MW. . The projected reserve margin is between 16-36 MW between January and May and 9-26 MW between July and October 2004.
He said the reserve margins in June, November and December 2004 will be negative; hence power shortages are expected during these months. Thus, there is need to implement the immediate solutions to the impending crisis.
According to Benavidez, the government should also ensure that the ideal reserve in these areas should be at 13.2 percent.
Transco president Alan T Ortiz said for Transco's part, : the company will establish a robust, resilient and reliable electricity highway capable of transmitting quality power safely to the power consumers in the Visayas through the Visa as transmission augmentation Program (VISTA).
The projects under the VISTA and their corresponding budget are the Leyte-Cebu uprating project (P3.7 billion); Cebu-Mactan Interconnection project (P2.02 billion); Cebu- K Negros-Panay uprating (P4.44 billion); Panay backbone transmission project (P22 billion) and Wright-Calbayog . transmission (P718 million).
"Once these projects are completed by early 2006, the Visayas region can expect more than adequate supply of power," Ortiz said.
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