First Gen plants resume operations

MANILA, Philippines -  First Gen Corp. said yesterday its power plants affected by the recent earthquake have resumed operations, augmenting Luzon grid’s power supply this summer.

First Gen said it has completed restoration work on the San Lorenzo Switchyard, which connects its three natural gas-fired power plants to the transmission lines of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

“We are pleased to advise that the connection to the grid of the 500-megawatt (MW) San Lorenzo, 414-MW San Gabriel and 97-MW Avion power plants has been restored. Accordingly, power output from all three power plants can now be exported to the grid,” the company said.

First Gen said its plants did not sustain any damage from the earthquakes. However, the earthquake damaged various components of the San Lorenzo Switchyard.

“We exerted all efforts to enable San Lorenzo, San Gabriel and Avion to export their outputs at the quickest time. Our site management team and our contractors have worked tirelessly since last week including through the Holy Week,” First Gen vice president Jerome Cainglet said in a statement.

The company earlier said the 1,000-MW Sta. Rita power plant resumed operations after preliminary assessment showed the plant and the Sta. Rita Switchyard did not suffer any significant damage.

Last week, Luzon grid suffered from insufficient power supply as some power generating facilities tripped following the strong quakes that hit Batangas on April 8.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed Luzon grid on yellow alert from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. which was eventually raised to red alert status from 1 pm to 3 p.m. on increased demand and power supply deficiency.

A yellow alert status for the grid means that contingency reserves are below the minimum level set by the regulator but does not necessarily lead to power outages while a red alert means there is severe power deficiency.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said the Luzon grid lost 2,905 MW of power, 1,570 MW of which were plants affected by the earthquake.