Mindanao power committee backs upgrading of Agus plant

MANILA, Philippines - The Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC), created by the government to monitor the power situation in the island, has endorsed a new proposal designed to uprate a major unit of the Agus 6 hydro power plant.

The move is part of efforts to boost the capacity of the state-owned power generating plant.

Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chairperson Luwalhati Antonino, who heads the power monitoring body, said the proposal for the uprating of Agus 6 Unit 4 is in addition to the Agus 6 Units 1 and 2 uprating approved last year by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“This proposal forms part of the immediate measures being pursued by the Aquino government to increase the dependable capacity of Mindanao power generation,” Antonino said.

The uprating project, estimated to cost P495 million, has already been submitted for approval.

According to the proposal submitted by the National Power Corp. (Napocor)-Mindanao, the uprating of Agus 6 Unit 4 is expected to improve the plant’s generating capacity by 15 megawatts, from its current available capacity of 35 MW to 50 MW.

The Private Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is already finalizing the bidding schedule for the P2.6-billion contract to rehabilitate Agus 6 Units 1 and 2, which is set to commence by the third quarter this year.

In all, the Agus 6 Units 1 and 2 uprating project seeks to extend the generating plant units’ economic life for another 30 years and increase its capacity output from 50 MW to 69 MW, according to the MPMC.

The project is expected to be completed by 2016.

“Among the measures being pushed under MPMC, enhancing the dependable capacity of Agus 6 provide the most viable option for optimizing Mindanao generation’s hydro capacities,” Antonino said.

She said the committee is looking at various options to maintain the improvement in the island’s power situation but noted that the situation could revert to precarious supply scenario in the next few months up to December 2013, when some major power plants go on preventive maintenance shutdown and with demand expected to further go up.