Malampaya gas facility still operating below capacity

 

The Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power facility is not yet fully-restored as the Department of Energy earlier expected, and continues to operate on restricted capacity.

 

Malampaya supplies the natural gas requirements of three power plants – the 1,000-megawatt Sta. Rita, the 500-megawatt San Lorenzo, and the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan. 

 

The power plants require processed natural gas to generate a combined 2,700 megawatts of power for the Luzon grid. The combined output of Ilijan, Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo accounts for 40 to 45 percent of the power generating requirement of Luzon.

 

At 611 megawatts Ilijan is currently producing below capacity. 

 

San Lorenzo and Sta. Rita are able to meet their respective capacity outputs by using more expensive liquid fuel.

 

The Department of Energy said it has no updated information on why Malampaya is operating below capacity, saying it is still coordinating with Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX), operator of the gas-to-power facility, as of this posting.

 

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla is speculating the situation has got something to do with the recent month-long maintenance shutdown of Malampaya.

 

On Tuesday afternoon the power reserves in the Luzon grid is near the yellow alert level at 695 megawatts (MW).

 

By Tuesday evening the Luzon grid's system capacity is expected at 9,628 megawatts and the system peak at 7,956 MW or more than 1,600 MW in power reserves.

 

"We are still okay as power demand didn't go up because the weather is cooperating," said Energy Assistant Director Irma Exconde of the DOE Electric Power Industry Management Bureau. 

 

Luzon is still brownout-free, she added.

 

However, the bureau is encouraging consumers to practice energy conservation and efficiency.

 

"Conservation should be a way of life. Dapat everyday tayong conscious sa consumption," Exconde said. – VS, GMA News