Steag set to complete restoration of power plants

MANILA, Philippines - Steag State Power Inc., the operator of the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental, estimates to complete the restoration of its units by June 1, 2014 following the Feb. 27 island-wide blackout in Mindanao, the company said in an advisory yesterday.

Steag expects to restore Unit 1 on May 4, and Unit 2 on June 1. Each unit has a net generating capacity of 105 MW.

Without Steag’s capacity, two to three hour rotating blackouts in Mindanao are expected to continue.

This developed as Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said yesterday that a fluctuation in voltage frequency of the Steag plant caused the island-wide blackout.

Reacting to the Energy department’s findings, Steag State president and chief executive officer Bodo Goerlich said they were surprised over reports of the massive blackout in Mindanao.

 â€œThe fluctuation of the load of power plants happens from time to time and  the over-all effect is managed by adjusting either the supply or demand of the grid.  We have in the past experienced such a situation and it did not cause a massive blackout and total collapse of the grid,” Goerlich said.

He said that based on the sequence of events few minutes prior to the collapse of the Mindanao grid, Steag’s power generation output gradually reduced.

 â€œWhile the gradual reduction will affect the electric supply condition, it is not expected however to cause a cascading failure and tripping of other power plants and the collapse of the entire grid,” Goerlich said.

He assured that Steag employees have been working round-the-clock to restore the units back to the grid noting the volatile power supply condition of Mindanao.

 â€œWe empathize with those that are affected by the Mindanao power supply shortfall and rest assured that we are doing our best to restore the units back to the grid and help alleviate the island’s precarious power supply condition,” he said.

The company said it is cooperating with the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Power Corp., the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, and other stakeholders of the Mindanao power industry, in addressing the situation.

 â€œWhile our priority now is the repair and restoration of the units, we are also working closely with the DOE and other industry stakeholders in finding means of improving quality and reliability of power supply services in Mindanao,” Goerlich said. 

Petilla said that after weeks of investigation, the Energy department has found out that the blackout stemmed from an internal problem experienced by the Steag plant, which caused the fluctuation in voltage frequency.

“It was due to an internal problem,” Petilla noted.

Steag’s power plant is currently Mindanao’s biggest in terms of unit capacity, accounting for nearly a fifth of the island’s total electricity supply.