• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Department of Energy (DOE) expects the completion of the Cebu-Negros-Panay transmission line upgrade by the end of March, which is expected to strengthen the Panay grid.
In an advisory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the power outages on March 1 which affected Panay and some areas of Negros Island, were caused by the unplanned shutdown of three units with a combined capacity of 316 megawatts of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC).
The NGCP said the shutdown was followed by the tripping of other power plants in Panay. It clarified that the blackouts were not caused by the tripping of any of its facilities.
Power in Negros was fully restored at 8:48 pm on March 1, according to NGCP.
This was the second time this year that Western Visayas was hit by a region-wide power shortage.
Panay Island, according to DOE, is powered by four large coal power plants with a total capacity of 451 megawatts (MW) and nine smaller diesel bunker and renewable energy power plants with a capacity of 220.3 MW.
By the end of March, DOE said that the Panay grid will be strengthened by the completion of the Cebu-Negros-Panay transmission upgrade, along with the completion of the regular maintenance at the PCPC (Palm Concepcion Power Corporation).
In the meantime, DOE reiterated the need for cooperation among generators, distribution utilities, and the system operator in Panay.
It also encouraged the general public to conserve energy, while they are awaiting the completion of the transmission upgrade and maintenance of the PCPC by the end of March this year.*
