Palace assurance on power situation amid supply crunch

Malacanang has assured the public that the government was on top of the situation amid a power supply crunch.Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday placed the Luzon grid under red and yellow alerts for the fourth time this month, as power reserves remained thin because of nonfunctioning units of several power plants.Speaking to reporters, Panelo said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told him the Department of Energy (DoE) was keenly monitoring the situation.In its advisory, the NGCP said the grid was on red alert, the highest warning, from 1pm to 4pm. A red alert means there is insufficient power supply and authorities may implement rotational brownouts in some areas. A yellow alert was also raised from 9am to 1pm and from 4pm to 8pm.During a yellow alert, power reserves are below the minimum 647 megawatts (MW), but does not necessarily mean there will be power outages.The NGCP said the alerts were raised because of insufficient operating reserves due to the forced outage of multiple power plants.The DoE said it would raise the power supply crunch that struck the entire Luzon grid to President Rodrigo Duterte.“This is what we can only assure everyone, all the information we will gather, we will endorse it to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)), Congress, especially to the president,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said at a press briefing.“At the end of the day, we will remain answerable to all these and we will try to leave you with as many updates, as transparent and as timely as we can,” Fuentebella told reporters.The power plants that went offline or on unscheduled shutdown had a total capacity of 1,367 MW. These were: Sual Unit 1 of TeaM Energy Corp (647 MW); Limay Unit 2 of SMC Consolidated Power Corp (150 MW); Unit 2 of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp (150 MW); and Pagbilao Unit 3 of Pagbilao Energy Corp. (420 MW).Limay Unit 2 and Pagbilao Unit 3 resumed operations yesterday, while Sual Unit 1 will be back online tomorrow. Unit 2 of Southwest Luzon Power will be back to normal operations on April 21.Also, the Calaca Unit 2 of SEM-Calaca Power Corp. was operating at a de-rated capacity of 100 MW.Following the rotating brownouts, a group of industry stakeholders proposed solutions to achieve energy security in the Philippines.In a statement, the Petroleum Association of the Philippines (PAP) said the country possessed existing indigenous energy such as the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan, which helps in ensuring a stable power supply.“Supply from the Malampaya remains stable. Production from the Malampaya platform has even been above its normal average due to the increased demand resulting from the outage of the other power generators,” PAP said.“The fact is that Malampaya has stepped up and responded to the increased demand for electricity.Otherwise, the power shortage would have been much worse, and the brownouts would have been longer and more frequent,” PAP chairman Rufino Bomasang said.The natural gas platform fuels power stations with a total generating capacity of 3,200 MW. It effectively supplies electricity to the Luzon region.Aside from the Malampaya gas facility, Fuentebella said the Energy department could invoke Section 23 of Republic Act 7638 or the “Department of Energy Act of 1992” to prompt the approval of pending power supply agreements (PSAs). He mentioned a Supreme Court ruling, stating the ERC should act upon on or resolve the matter within 30 days after filing. “Upon request of the department or any of its bureaus, all government agencies with functions relative to the approval of the projects of the department or its duly authorised and endorsed entities, whether government or private, shall act upon and resolve the matter within 10 calendar days. Toward this end, the secretary, with the approval of the president, may establish an interagency secretariat for the purpose of expediting the approval of said projects,” the law stated.Millennium Energy Inc has signed a PSA with Manila Electric Co (Meralco) to supply the power utility with 70 MW. Therma Mobile Inc, is also finalising PSA negotiations with Meralco to provide the listed firm with 161 MW.For, Infrawatch PH, an infrastructure-oriented thinktank, all power generating companies (gencos) involved in the recent unplanned and forced outages that caused unexpected rotating brownouts within the Luzon power grid should be penalised.“The public demands an explanation how in the world was it possible that major generating plants suddenly become unavailable in such a short window of time. More importantly, the public should not be made to pay for these unplanned shutdowns. It should be these gencos (generation companies) that should pay the costs of higher power rates in the spot market,” James Mark Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convener, said in a statement.“We note that these generating plants are operated by country’s leading conglomerates, and thus, all the more should they be made to explain why their plants went out, and whether they are making a commitment to bear the costs of higher power prices from the spot market,” the former youth party-list representative said.“Should the gencos refuse to make a voluntary commitment, government should initiate penalty proceedings, similar to its intervention in the water sector,” Ridon said.