DOE: Enough power for polls

Source: philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines - The country has sufficient power reserves to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity on Monday and throughout the election period, according to the Department of Energy.“All things being equal and with no major issues playing, there will be power. Unless there will be out of the ordinary problems then th at’s the only time there will be no power,” Energy Secretary Jose Ibazeta said on Thursday at the launch of the Task Force Halalan 2010 Command Center at the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The crucial period, he said, would be from May 9 to 12.

“As far as we’re concerned in the power sector, Luzon and Visayas are assured of supply. We have back-up contingency plans in case there are (problems),” he said.

He also said that although Mindanao’s power reserve is thin, measures are in place to keep supply during the period stable.

“In the case of Mindanao, it is a hydro-based power industry. So we have been building water up in the dams. So for three days during the election period, we’ll release the water so you’ll have power in Mindanao,” he said.

For the Luzon grid, there would be reserves of 1,200 megawatt. For Visayas and Mindanao, there would be 300 MW and 100 MW reserves, respectively, during the election period.

“So we are making sure that on May 9 to 11 there will be power in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. But I will admit that in Mindanao, the power situation is pretty tight. So we have to be sure about the situation there,” he added.

He also pointed out that the plan to secure generator sets had been abandoned.

“Primarily, it’s because we cannot get them in on time. Our focus is basically the elections. Also that particular proposal is private in nature between the proponent and the electric cooperative. So we’re not part of that,” he said.

On the transmission side, NGCP president Roque Corpuz said they would energize a substation to serve as a back up.

“So far, everything is fine. We only hope that nothing beyond the ordinary will happen. We just think of May 10 as a regular and ordinary day,” Corpuz said.

The Task Force Halalan Command Center will issue updates on the power situation in all the grids.

“Generally, the Command Center will monitor all the different aspects of the generation and distribution of the power sector in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. And the monitors tell you where there is and where there is no power and how the lines are being distributed,” he said.