Power crisis in Mindanao worsens as barge conks out

DAVAO CITY, Philippines –One of the two power barges of Aboitiz Power’s Therma Marine has conked out and shut down for repairs, worsening the power crisis in Mindanao.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said yesterday’s power supply of 930 megawatts was short by 245 megawatts.

Therma Marine chief operating officer Jovy Batiquin said the generator moored in Maco, Compostela Valley have been experiencing technical problems since March 18. The other barge is moored in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.

The oil-fired barges, designed for peaking, back up and ancillary services, have been running for 24 hours.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this unforeseen event may cause our customers.  We are assessing the situation and the repairs needed so we can come up with a timetable and we will accordingly inform all our customers – the electric cooperatives and distribution utilities…We will keep the repair time of the unit at its minimum and hopefully minimize the inconvenience to everyone,” Batiquin said.

Most areas in Mindanao have been experiencing eight to 10 hours of blackouts due to the acute power shortage.

Therma Marine provides power to 23 distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to complement supply from the National Power Corp. (NPC), which provides more than 70 percent of Mindanao’s power needs.

Mindanao’s peak demand for power daily is around 1,200 MW. Aside from supply deficit, NPC’s  “conservation” efforts –controlling the release of water from Lake Lanao to save water and power for the elections – is aggravating the situation.

Meanwhile, residents here and areas serviced by Davao Light and Power Co. are not experiencing blackouts. There is enough power supply coming from the Hedcor Sibulan hydro power plant and the Bajada power plant.