Napocor assures stable power supply in line with economic growth

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) assured yesterday that the power supply situation could meet the country’s growing demand for electricity in the future.

"Our present power supply is more than adequate to meet demand and will be able to support the projected 5.7-percent growth in the economy," the government-run power generation firm said.

Napocor made the assurance to clarify recent reports that the country may experience a deficiency in power supply by 2011 because no new power plants are being built.

It added the setbacks experienced in the sale of its generation assets are just part of the entire process involving privatization.

"These are now being addressed by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the agency created by law to oversee the sale of the government’s transmission and generation assets," it said.

Napocor said the generation facilities undergo regular maintenance and rehabilitation to keep them running in optimal condition.

"We have always maintained operational efficiency well above the normal standards. It is part of our overall program to improve our operations and increase plant reliability. Despite the age of some of the power plants, they still operate optimally. We have a continuing program to rehabilitate and upgrade these facilities in order to make them more efficient and to maximize their output," Napocor said.

The state-run power generation company said at present, the country has an installed capacity of over 12,000 megawatts (MW), more than enough to meet the forecast peak demand of 6,768 MW for 2006.

In the Luzon grid, Napocor’s generating plants have a rated capacity of roughly 9,000 MW, which amply covers the estimated system peak of about 7,000 MW.

"In fact, among the three major grids, it is in Luzon where the power situation is the most sufficient, because most of the plants are located here," Napocor said.

It said long-term measures for the Visayas and Mindanao grids are also being implemented to further improve the power supply situation.

Among these measures are: maximizing the loading of Leyte-Cebu interconnection submarine cable up to rated capacity; ensure the full commissioning of the Panay diesel power plant (PDPP) 3 by the third quarter of 2006; and defer the retirement of Bohol diesel power plant pending the completion of interconnection projects and full commissioning of PDPP 3.

In Mindanao, Napocor said the power supply is expected to get a big boost with the scheduled commissioning by January 2007 of the 200-MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant, the first such facility in the region, and the increased availability within 2007 of power generated from the repair of Napocor’s 255-MW Pulangui IV hydropower plant as well as the additional 60 MW capacity available from Agus II due to the repair of upstream flood control structures.

Likewise, the 50-MW Mt. Apo 3 geothermal project of PNOC-EDC and the 46-MW Sibulan hydropower project of the Aboitiz group in Davao will also be up for completion in 2010 and 2009, respectively.

"In the long-term however, we would still have to put in an additional capacity of about 71 MW in the Visayas by 2008, and another 57 MW in new capacity in Mindanao by 2009, to ensure adequate power supply in these two grids," Napocor said.

A 200-MW power plant is already being constructed by Korea Power Corp. (Kepco) and Salcon Power in Cebu and will be operational in January 2010. Smaller generation projects utilizing wind power, geothermal, and biofuel energy are also being built, and are expected to come on-line between 2006 to 2008.