Steag defers restoration of Mindanao genset

MANILA, Philippines - Steag State Power Inc. (SPI) has deferred the scheduled restoration date of one of its electric generating sets to May 8 instead of May 4 as originally planned, the company said yesterday.

In an advisory, Steag said the target date for restoring Unit 1 remains on track on or before June 1, 2014.

Steag State power plant manager Carsten Evers said while the repairs and restoration works of Unit 2 are almost completed, the company needs more time to ensure that the unit is in excellent condition prior to commissioning and synchronization to the Mindanao grid.

“We apologize for this delay and rest assured that we are doing everything we can to bring the units back to the grid,” Evers added.

The company said Steag employees have been working round-the-clock to restore the units back to the grid noting the volatile power supply condition of Mindanao.

SPI is a German-owned power company, which owns the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental.

The plant went offline last Feb. 27 after sustaining damage on its turbine-electric generating sets, triggering the island-wide blackout that hit at around 4 a.m. that day.

The company said it is coordinating closely with the Department of Energy (DOE) and other stakeholders in the Mindanao power industry to help improve the power supply condition in the island.

Without Steag’s capacity, Mindanao is experiencing two to three-hour rotating blackouts.

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.