Davao brownouts up to 5 hours amid repairs to TSI coal plant
April 11, 2016 at 08:38am
The TSI unit, one of two with an installed capacity of 150-megawatts (MW) each, was shutdown on Wednesday afternoon after the 138 kilovolt Davao-Toril line of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) tripped due reportedly to a fallen tree.
NGCP corporate communications officer for Mindanao Milfrance Q. Capulong said the company was able to repair the line after an hour.
After that, TSI Unit 1, which generates a net 130-MW supply to the Mindanao grid, failed to restart.
“Shutting down TSI 1 after the NGCP tripped is a safety measure to protect the plant,” said Wilfredo A. Rodolfo, Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) corporate communications manager.
TSI, as well as DLPC, are subsidiaries of AboitizPower.
In an advisory to the public, DLPC, the biggest buyer from the Mindanao grid, said its total supply allocation from all sources is now 103-MW short of the 345-mw average daily peak demand.
The two units of the TSI coal-fired power plant, inaugurated in January 2016, was seen as an important long-term solution to the power supply problem in Mindanao. The first unit started commercial operations in September 2015 while the second underwent reliability tests ahead of a target full commercial operations by February 2016.
The power plant supplies baseload power to more than 20 electric cooperatives and distribution utilities in Mindanao, including the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zamboanga, Butuan, Kidapawan, Tagum, Koronadal, Digos, Pagadian and Cotabato.
Supply from the southern island’s two main power sources, the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric plants, has also been on the decline with water at critical levels due to the prevailing El Niño.
Source: bworldonline.com
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