Napocor sales down 1% in Q1

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) suffered a 1.02 percent drop in energy sales for the first three months this year compared to the same period in 1999.

Napocor sold a total of 8,432 gigawatthours (gwH) from January to March compared to 8,519 gwH in the same period last year.

The market analysis and load forecasting division (MALFD) of Napocor attributed the decline to lower purchases by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), and to the continued slump in electricity demand.

The actual sales from January to March however were 8.91 percent higher than Napocor's target of 7,681 gwH," it said. A gigawatthour is equivalent to one million kilowatthours (kwH).

Meralco reduced its energy purchases by 4.27 percent in the first three months this year. That means acquiring 4,966 gwH in the first quarter of the year from 5,188 gwH in the same period last year.

The MALFD report explained that the reduction in Meralco power purchases is a direct result of the coming onstream of several of its independent power producers (IPPs).

"The Lopez-owned distribution firm started sourcing part of its power requirements from two new IPPs. These are the Quezon Power (Philippines) Ltd. Which operates the 440-megawatts (MW) Mauban coal-fired power plant and other First Gas Power Corp. (FGPC) which runs the 1,000-MW combined cycle power plant in Sta. Rita, Batangas," it added.

Nonetheless, overall sales in the Luzon Grid reached 6,475 gwH, or 11.20 percent more than its forecast of 5,750 gwH. However, it is 2.60 percent lower than the year ago level of 6,654 gwH.

The Visayas Grid sold 716 gwH for a 2.61 percent hike over the 698 gwH last year. The increase was attributed to the greater demand from local utilities particularly the Mactan Export Processing Zone and the Acoland in Cebu.

Finally, the energy sales from the Mindanao Grid rose by 6.29 percent or from 1,167 gwH to 1,242 gwH.

Napocor described electricity demand in Mindanao as robust, even as sales to industrial customers remained sluggish.

The growth in sales was attained despite the closure in late 1999 of the National Steel Corp., the single biggest industrial customer in the region," it added.

Another major factor that contributed to the increase in sales was the extension of Napocor's dump power program. Dump power is excess capacity or cost-saving scheme which is sold to non-traditional Mindanao-based customers at a 50 percent discount. Originally schedule to expire last October, the implementation was extended until May this year.

For the whole of 1999, Napocor failed to meet its target energy sales of 38,300 gwH. It sold only 36,418 gwH-hours instead as a result of a low demand from industries.

Energy sales in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids climbed up month-on-month. In January, energy sales hit 2,972 gwH and in February, 3,107 gwH.

Napocor officials said the coming of the independent power producers in the provinces had significantly affected Napocor's energy sales, and thus had influenced its decision to bring down its forecasts to only 35,334 gwH to be sold for the rest of the year.

Luzon accounted for 4,760.728 gwH in the first two months of 2000 compared to the 4,451,182 gwH last year for a 6.95 percent increase as it continued to account for more than two-thirds of energy produced by Napocor.

However, the Visayas Grid recorded a whopping 11.62 percent growth rate, or from 476.096 gwH in 1999 to 531.427 wgH in the first two months of the year.

In the first nine months of the year, Napocor recorded a 3.11 percent drop ins ales from 28,078 gwH to 27,205.