Napocor puts all power plants on red alert

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) has put all of its power plants on red alert to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the wake of nationwide protests and anticipated threats by anti-government forces calling for the resignation of President Arroyo.

Napocor president Cyril C. del Callar has ordered all the senior executives and plant managers of the state-owned power firm to stay focused on the twin tasks of ensuring that all of the generation facilities are running efficiently and of delivering adequate electricity supply to the public.

"I call on your professionalism to do the jobs that we all were hired to do. It is important that we reinforce the feeling of stability that continuous power supply brings to our populace. Let us ensure that we do not add to the anxiety of the times," Del Callar told employees.

Del Callar said Napocor will continue performing its mandate as the main supplier of electricity in the country.

In Luzon, for example, Napocor supplies the critical peaking power requirements of the grid and bulk of its reserve capacity.

With a dependable capacity of about 8,745 megawatts (MW), Napocor supplies about 63 percent of the Luzon grid’s requirements.

In 2004, Napocor’s Luzon-based plants also boasted of a capacity factor of 32.89 percent, or higher than the 2003 figure of 31.03 percent.

At the same time, Napocor provides all the capacity reserves and power assurance capacity of the country’s distribution utilities, including the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

Napocor, however, only supplies about 50 percent of Meralco’s total energy needs, while the other 50 percent comes from Meralco’s own independent power producers (IPPs).

These IPPs include the Quezon Power (Philippines) Limited Co., which operates the Mauban coal-fired power plant; First Gas Power Corp., which operates the Sta. Rita gas-fired power plant; and First Private Power Corp.