Daily blackouts to hit Davao Region

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Daily power outages will hit parts of the Davao Region again as power supply remains unstable due to El Niño and the bombings of power transmission towers.

In an advisory issued yesterday, Davao Light and Power Co. said its customers would experience up to three hours of daily blackouts starting tomorrow.

Davao Light’s franchise area covers Davao City and the towns of Carmen, Dujali and Santo Tomas and Panabo City in Davao del Norte.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reduced the allocation for Davao Light due to the low water level in hydropower sources and toppled transmission facilities that have yet to be repaired.

The recent bombings of transmission towers in Mindanao have isolated two other power plants, the NGCP said.

Davao Light said the situation is expected to get worse as the 300-megawatt Therma South Inc. base load power plant underwent maintenance shutdown for seven days starting yesterday.

The power firm said its total power reserves of 233 MW would not be sufficient to meet the 290 to 320 MW demand in its franchise area this weekend.

Davao Light said it would continue to optimize supply contracts with Therma Marine Inc., TSI coal-fired, Hedcor Sibulan, Hedcor Talomo and the Western Mindanao Power Corp. to mitigate the impact of the tight power supply.

Daily blackouts of up to six hours hit Davao City and nearby areas last year due to the reduced capacity of the Agus and Pulangi hydro-power plants.