Petilla warns of 350-MW loss in capacity

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines risks losing yet another 350 megawatts in the summer of 2015 if the second unit of the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal conks out, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla warned yesterday.

 “Malaya 2 is due for an overhaul. It is at risk of conking out,” Petilla said in an interview.

He said the plant was supposed to run on Monday to augment power supply in the Luzon grid but was unable to do so.

 “It is an old plant. It is more than 30 years old,” he said.

The Malaya plant consists of the 300-MW Unit 1, which has a one-through type boiler and the 350-MW Unit 2, which has a conventional boiler. It is currently managed and operated by the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) after Korea Electric Power Corp. rehabilitated the facility in 1995 under a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-maintain agreement.

If Malaya’s Unit 2 conks out, a total of 650 MW will not be available next summer as Unit 1 is already scheduled for an overhaul, which is expected to last until July 2015.

The situation is expected to aggravate the projected power supply deficit next year, Petilla said, as he reiterated the government’s case for additional power capacity.

Aside from Malaya’s Unit 2, other factors that threaten to aggravate the power supply next summer are the reduced output of hydropower plants and the lack of power reserves.

The hydropower plants, which can provide up to 800 MW, are traditionally lean during the summer months because of lower water elevation, Petilla said.

He said the Philippines also needs power reserves of at least four percent, which at a projected requirement of 9,011 MW for 2015, is equivalent to roughly 360 MW.

The Philippines would need 9,011 MW of power next year, higher than this year’s demand of 8,717 MW on the back of the projected growth in the economy, Petilla said.