Rotational power outages in Davao City starting Feb 21

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City faces two-hour rotational power outages starting Saturday, February 21, despite the promised additional supply from new coal-fired power plants.

The brownouts may be caused by the scheduled preventive maintenance of the STEAG State Power Incorporated’s coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental from February 19 to March 16, said Rossano Luga, corporate communication officer of the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC).

SPI plant manager Dr Carsten Evers announced on February 17 that power plant 1 will be shut down from February 19 to March 2 and power plant 2 from February 21 to March 16, 2015.

Power supply will be tight in DLPC’s franchise area during that period. The situation may worsen from February 21 to March 2, as maintenance service to STEAG’s two units, totaling 210 megawatts (MW), will be performed simultaneously, Luga said.

“This could lead to a two-hour maximum rotating power interruption in the DLPC franchise area,” Luga said. 

In anticipation of the rotational brownouts, DLPC will run its embedded standby power plant in Bajada, and its existing generating facilities, including Hedcor Incorporated’s Sibulan and Talomo hydroelectric power plants and the barge of Therma Marine Incorporated.

DLPC will  also activate its Interruptible Load Program (ILP) during peak demand periods if needed, Luga said. The program is similar to DOE’s program in Luzon to avert a power shortage this summer.

“When advised by the utility, ILP participating companies use their own generating sets so that available power may be utilized by the smaller residential and commercial customers,” Luga said. 

DLPC, Hedcor, and Therma Marine Inco are subsidiaries of the Aboitiz Power Corporation. 

Aboitiz is also constructing a new 645MW coal-fired power plant in Davao City, despite protests from environmentalists and health workers.

The plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2015.

In 2014, massive power outages hit Mindanao after two 105MW electric generating sets of STEAG in Villanueva town, hurting the local economy and the day-to-day activities in the affected areas. – Rappler.com