Gov’t moves to avert power crisis in Visayas

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Executive Committee has approved the immediate transfer of the 110-megawatt (MW) diesel-fired Pinamucan power plant from Batangas to Iloilo as part of measures to avert an impending power crisis in the Visayas region.

"President Arroyo has ordered us to fasttrack the bidding for the transfer of the Pinamucan (lock, stock and barrel) power facility to Dingle, Iloilo," Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said in a press conference yesterday.

The Pinamucan power plant’s 10-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract with Enron Power Corp. expired last July 22, resulting in the transfer of its operations to the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Perez said the Napocor board will likely give the go-signal for the bidding of the transfer and the rehabilitation of the power plant if necessary.

"This will not be a new contract. It is already owned by Napocor and there will be no purchased power agreement (PPA)," Perez said, when asked if the use of this power plant will entail more cost for the electricity end-users in Visayas.

He said the transfer will commence immediately after the Napocor board’s approval and will take at least 10 months to complete. The cost for the transfer and possible rehabilitation of the plant cannot be determined.

At present, the Pinamucan power plant is being used as a peaking plant or being operated only when the need arises.

Perez said once it is transferred to Iloilo, the power plant could be run as a baseload plant, or one always in operation.

Among the possible solutions to the impending power crisis in the Visayas are the Leyte-Cebu interconnection project which will be auctioned off today (July 30) and the Cebu-Mactan interconnection project.

The $68.5 million Leyte-Cebu project would entail the installation of a 33-kilometer submarine cable intended to transmit an additional 200 MW demand in Cebu. It will be completed in February 2005.

The $40 million Cebu-Mactan project, on the other hand, will allow the installation of a 7.36-km underground cable from 69 kilovolt to 138 kV. The bidding for the project will be held on Aug. 15 and the target completion will be on September 2005.