Cebu assured of enough power with Power Barge 101 switch-on

Cebu is now assured of enough power for the ASEAN Summit in December, after Power Barge 101 was formally switched on yesterday.

National Power Corporation president Cyril del Callar said the facility will not only provide back-up power but also has the capacity to immediately restore power in case of outages in Cebu and the entire Cebu-Negros-Panay grid.

He stressed that the deployment of PB 101 back in Cebu "will highlight one important milestone," the 12th ASEAN Summit which will be held here on December 11 to December 14.

PB 101, which underwent repair and reconditioning, is now docked at Muelle Osmeña in Lapu-Lapu City, can provide additional capacity of 32 megawatts to Cebu's existing power supply.

At present, Cebu has a dependable capacity of almost 670 MW, with a peak demand of 454 MW.

Commissioned in 1981, PB 101 is made up of four units with a capacity of eight MW each. Aside from acting as back-up power, Del Callar said the barge will also function as a peaking plant during peak periods, together with the Cebu Diesel Power Plant I in Naga.

Likewise, it can also serve as black start for immediate power restoration to the Cebu grid in case of major power outages similar to what happened last May 10, when a major blackout affected almost entire Visayas region.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia expressed great relief over the switch on of PB 101 since it meant that Cebu will have enough power supply for the ASEAN Summit.

"It is the chance of a lifetime for Cebu to shine and the National Power Corporation provided us the power to do it," Garcia said.

With Cebu's unprecedented growth, the governor said that the province needs long-term solutions to its power problems and one of these solutions is the provision of additional capacity.

Adam Pogoy, PB 101 manager said that last June 14, while on dry dock in the Batangas shipyard on the eve of their departure to Iloilo, he was informed that the barge would be deployed to Lapu-Lapu City to serve as back-up power for Cebu province.

Iloilo, which is facing threat of power crisis, had requested for the transfer of the barge there but the national government decided to put the barge in Mactan Island to ensure that Cebu will have enough power for the ASEAN Summit.

PB 101 was first transferred to Cebu in December 2005 from Bohol. It was dry docked at the Keppel Shipyard in June 2006 for repair and arrived at Mactan last August 22. - Wenna A. Berondo and Cristina C. Birondo/QSB