Transco power delivery to major grids up slightly in first 9 months

The National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) delivered a total of 76,441 megawatt-months (MW-months) of power to the country’s major electricity grids for the first three quarters of 2005, slightly higher than in the previous year period.

Power delivery measured in MW-month refers to the sum of TransCo’s monthly billing demand in megawatts.

According to a report of the company’s corporate planning group, power transmitted to the Visayas and Mindanao grids increased by two percent and three percent, respectively, over the same period last year.

The report shows that Visayas accounted for 7,825 MW-month and Mindanao, 10,908 MW-months of the total power delivered during the period.

Power delivery in the Luzon grid, however, remained flat compared to same period in 2004 owing to the 1.5-percent decrease in power wheeling to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which accounts for almost 73 percent of the power TransCo delivers to the grid.

TransCo president and CEO Alan T. Ortiz said they are working on several interconnection and uprating projects to respond to the steadily increasing power demand in Visayas and Mindanao.

The Leyte-Cebu and Cebu-Mactan interconnection projects were recently completed and switched on to ensure the free flow of power in the Visayas grid.

In Mindanao, the Sangali-Pitogo 138-kilovolt (Kv) transmission line project to be completed by December 2006 is expected to boost power reliability in the city of Zamboanga and other major growth centers in the Western Mindanao area.

Ortiz attributed the increase in power delivery in the Visayas to the 1.8-percent increase in the power requirements of distribution utilities, which represent 88 percent of the total power delivery in the grid.

Higher power demands were recorded for Central Negros Electric Coop, Negros Oriental II Electric Coop, Aklan Electric Coop, and Bohol I Electric Coop.

In the case of industrial customers, the Alturas Group of Companies and San Miguel Corp. posted an increase of 40 percent and 31 percent, respectively, in their power requirements, adding to the load from newly connected Visayas grid customer Dynasty Management & Development Corp.

In the Mindanao grid, he said the power delivery upsurge came mainly from distribution utilities‚ demand which grew by three percent or 273 MW-months.

The rising demand of utilities such as Davao Light & Power Corp., South Cotabato Electric Coop II and Agusan del Norte Coop contributed to the load growth.

Power delivery to Mindanao industrial customers increased considerably with Global Steel Works International, climbing by as much as 115 percent, and Dole Philippines by 18.8 percent. These increases were leveled off, however, by the decline in the demand of other industrial customers like Maria Cristina Chemical Inc., Iligan Cement Corp., and Philippine Sinter Corp.

In Luzon, power delivery reached 57,708 MW-months, slightly down from the 58,235 MW-month posted in the same period last year. In terms of power source, 70 percent of power delivered in Luzon came from National Power Corp., 29 percent from Meralco independent power producers (IPPs), and one percent from other smaller generating units.