DAVAO CITY — In a statement on Wednesday afternoon (February 17, 2016) the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) announced the implementation of another two to three hours of power interruptions in its service areas.
FILE — Contractors of the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) untangle telecommunication wires in Lanang, Davao City, sorting them out until these are transferred to newly erected posts in the area. (Photo courtesy of Keith Bacongco)
“For the past weeks, Davao Light was able to avoid the implementation of the rotating power interruptions despite the continued Mindanao-wide grid deficiency due to the El Niño and the bombings of transmission lines,” stated DLPC.
DLPC said that the Therma South Inc. (TSI) announced on Tuesday (February 16, 2016) that one of the units with a 150MW capacity, which DLPC has a 50MW contract, of its coal-fired power plant will undergo a 10-day preventive maintenance shutdown starting February 16 until February 26.
“Unavoidably, with this situation, Davao Light will only have a total of 275 MW of available power to supply the customers’ average demand of 345 MW in a day. The deficiency will now translate to two to three hours of rotating power interruptions,” the DLPC announcement said.
It added that the exact time when the power interruption will start in a given time frame still cannot be determined as the power supply allocation varies every hour and the number of feeders as well to be interrupted depends on the supply deficit on a certain hour in a day.
The company said it will continue to optimize its supply contracts with the following other generating plants: Therma Marine Inc. for 30 MW; the Unit 1 of TSI coal-fired power plant for 50 MW; Hedcor Sibulan for 38 MW; Hedcor Talomo for 3 MW; and the Western Mindanao Power Corporation for 15 MW.
The Bajada Power Plant will continue to run and the Interruptible Load Program will still be activated to help mitigate the impact of the very tight power supply situation, DLPC assured its consumers.
“Davao Light emphasizes that due to no reserve of power supply in Mindanao, any major plant that will undergo shutdown will have an effect on the supply situation in all distribution utilities, including Davao Light,” the company emphasized, adding that the rotating power interruption is being implemented to prevent total shutdown of the Mindanao grid, which happens when the demand for power exceeds with what is being supplied.
“The company will continue to give its customers daily updates on any changes in the power supply situation,” DLPC added.