79 Days to Doomsday: Mindanao Power Crisis bound to get worse before it gets better

Unless it rains soon, the National Power Corporation would have to shut down the Agus-Pulangi Hydroelectric complex (APHC) depriving Mindanao of 53 percent of its installed power capacity.

"We only have 81 centimeter to go before we reach the shutdown point," said Maximo Adiong, Head of the NPC´s Mindanao Regional Control Center (MRCC) in Iligan. "At one centimeter a day, we have 81 days of operation left before we have to close down our hydroelectric plants to keep them from being damaged by silt."

MRC is the central hub which oversees Mindanao´s five (5) area control centers (ACCs) in Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Davao, General Santos and Iligan.

Adiong said the water flow is the Agus Complex is down from 130 cubic meters per second ( cms) to only 30 cms with its water elevation down to 699.15 meters as of Feb. 27 , a mere 81 centimeters from its shutdown point.

We can´t even control the flow of water anymore since its level is already well below our control gates." Adiong said.

From a total rated capacity of 727 megawatts (MW), as of March 2 Agus complex can now only deliver 110MW while the Pulangi complex in Bukidnon which is rated at 255 MW is can now only supply 40W as of the same date.

The Mindanao Grid has a total contracted capacity of 1,334 MW to distribution utilities (DUS), industries and electric cooperatives but is now capable of supplying 825 MW as of March 2 with a deficit of 825 MW, said Elsa J. Mercado, NPC Manager for Marketing and Commercial Relations.

In a tumultuous meeting hosted by the Distribution Management Committee (DMC) at a local hotel March 2, power customers had no recourse but to agree to a new scheme coordinated by DMC which allocates them with a load capacity to maintain rather than to shed, as in the previous two months.

"We can only ensure delivery of 600MW to the grid at this critical time so we are asking all consumers to help us prevent the grid from collapsing by complying with their pro-rated loads," said Eugene Bicar of the National Grid Code of the Philippines (NGCP).

"Should any of our consumers persist in operating beyond their assigned loads to maintain, we have no recourse but to cut them off for the greater good of the many," he added.

However, utilities and cooperatives insist it is the responsibility of NPC to secure additional sources of power to deliver the contracted demand they have committed to deliver to all customers.

Many industries on the other hand, said there is just no way they can further curtail demand under the 50% capacity scenario presented by NPC and NGCP other than to shut down completely. The DMC agreed to look into this concern in their next meeting to address the plight of the stricken industries.

30 -