NGCP: More than half of Panay Island already has power

The power supply in Panay Island remains unstable despite more than half of the island already being served by working power plants, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Thursday. 

As of 10 a.m. on Thursday, NGCP said a total of 242.2 megawatts (MW) loads were being served in the island—- 202.9 MW of which was served by Panay power plants, and another 39.2 MW from sources elsewhere in the Visayas.

“Higit sa kalahati po ‘to ng ordinaryong pangangailangan ng Panay Island… Ang normal na demand nila nasa almost 400 MW, so more than half na ang naseserbisyuhan ng mga plantang naka-on ngayon,” NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(This is more than half of the normal demand of Panay Island... The island’s normal demand is almost 400 MW, so more than half is being serviced by the plants that are working now.)

The grid needs about 300 MW to stabilize and is only waiting for the remaining plant from the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) that will serve 135 MW, to synchronize back to the grid. 

Alabanza said that they are not seeing the need to raise the Yellow Alert in the Visayas Grid because the issue is only localized in Panay Island, and the rest of Visayas has power supply. 

It was on Tuesday when NGCP monitored the tripping of Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) Unit 1 due to an “internal issue.” It was followed by the tripping of PEDC Unit 2, PCPC, and other plants in the afternoon.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Wednesday said it is coordinating with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NGCP to restore electricity in Panay Island amid the massive power outage in the area.

State of calamity

Meanwhile, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said that he plans to declare a state of calamity as only 50% of the city has power supply and they continue to have rotational brownouts. 

“We will declare a state of calamity. The problem is NGCP. NGCP is beyond the state of calamity… The state of calamity is only here in Iloilo City [when we] declare, but the problem is beyond Iloilo City,” he said in a separate dzBB interview. 

Treñas said he is calling for a congressional investigation on the matter. 

A congressional probe into widespread power outages in Western Visayas provinces was proposed in the House of Representatives by Iloilo City lawmaker Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda on Wednesday.—AOL, GMA Integrated News