Power consumers in the province and the entire Negros Island will expect more power outages in the coming months as the power supply deficit affecting the entire Negros Island is expected to stretch until December this year. {{more}}
This was disclosed by Engr. Elvin Dennoyo, chief of operations and maintenance division of Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative I based in Bindoy during a Kapihan forum held in Mabinay town recently.
Dennoyo said that the power deficit is the main reason behind the rotating brownouts experienced by NORECO I’s coverage areas.
He explained that the Visayas power grid- spanning Panay, Negros, Bohol, Cebu and Leyte islands — is controlled by a system operator which is the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
NGCP is in charge of the power transmission in the Visayas and during the time there is a lack of power supply, they contact the electric cooperative to inform them that they need to drop a couple of megawatts of power.
“So what we do is we rotate the brownout feeder by feeder from 30 minutes to 1 hour,” said Dennoyo.
He added that there are even times when NORECO I is í¥caught unaware and its entire coverage area is plunged into a blackout. “These are times, especially during emergency situations, when NGCP will shut us down without any prior notice. These are during cases when the power voltage has sunk so low and the frequency has run down that NGCP needs to immediately shut down the power,” he said.
Dennoyo explained that the problem on the power deficit in the island will only be addressed once the two power plants in Cebu start operating next year.
As early as now, NORECO I has inked a contract with KEPCO, a coal plant in Cebu to ensure that power supply in Negros Oriental will stabilize next year. “Naniguro mi nga makahatag mi ug ensakto nga power supply sa among consumers,” he stressed.
Dennoyo expects the power supply in the Visayas to stabilize once said power plants start operating commercially.
Four of the five provinces covered by the Visayas power grid are experiencing a power deficit.
Foremost is Cebu province which only generates 141mw of power yet its demand is pegged at 403mw.
Negros Island’s actual power generation is at 118 mw while its power demand is at 157mw.
On the other hand, Panay needs 102mw of power but its actual power generated is only at 69mw while Bohol’s power demand is at 36mw yet it only generates 17mw.
Leyte is the only province whose actual power generation, which is at 514mw, is higher than its demand of 161 mw. (PIA/rmn)
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