The Philippine Star 02/09/2006
By Donnabelle L. Gatdula

State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) assured yesterday that the country’s power supply situation remains stable amid speculations of a power crisis in the immediate future.

"We wish to allay any apprehensions of a power shortage of crisis proportions," Napocor president Cyril C. Del Callar said. "Our present power supply is more than adequate to meet the demand, and will be able to support the projected 5.7-percent growth in the economy."

Del Callar was reacting to a recent statement made by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos that a power crisis will hit the country this year since no new power plants are being built.

Quoting official data, Del Callar said the country has an installed capacity of over 12,000 megawatts (MW) at present, more than enough to meet the peak demand of 6,768 MW forecast for 2006.

In the Luzon grid for instance, Napocor’s power plants have a rated capacity of roughly 9,000 MW, way above the estimated system peak of about 7,000 MW.

"In fact, among the three major grids, it is in Luzon where the power situation is the most comfortable, because most of the plants are located here," he added.

Del Callar also belied Santos’ statements that most of the power plants in Luzon are "old and aging".

According to the Napocor official, two of their biggest generation facilities in Luzon are in fact relatively new – the Ilijan gas-fired power plant, which has a capacity of 1,271 MW, was built only in 2002, while the Sual coal-fired power plant, which has a capacity of 1,294 MW, was commissioned only in 1999.

"As for our older plants, please rest assured that Napocor has a continuing program to rehabilitate and upgrade these facilities in order to make them more efficient and to maximize their output," he said.

Del Callar conceded that Visayas and Mindanao have been experiencing supply problems in recent months but pointed out that the situation in these two grids is already improving due to the implementation of several mitigating measures.

In the Visayas, for example, the uprating of the Leyte-Cebu interconnection and the Cebu-Mactan interconnection projects last year is expected to enhance the distribution of available power supply in the region, in particular the excess capacity from the geothermal fields of Leyte.

In Mindanao, meanwhile, power supply is expected to get a big boost with the scheduled commissioning of the 200-MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant, the first such facility in the region, by the end of this year.

"In the long-term, however, we would still have to put in an additional capacity of about 71 MW in the Visayas by 2008, and another 57 MW in new capacity in Mindanao by 2009, if we are to avert a power crisis in these two grids," he said.

Disputing Santos’ statement that no new power plants are being built, Del Callar pointed out that apart from the Mindanao Coal-fired power plant, another 200-MW power plant is being constructed by Kepco and Salcon Power in Cebu.

He said smaller generation projects utilizing wind power, geothermal, and biofuel energy are also being built, and are expected to come on-line between this year until 2008.

"As for Napocor, please understand that Section 47 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act prohibits us from undertaking new power projects or even from entering into new bilateral contracts with electricity suppliers," he said.