Negros Island will continue to suffer from brownouts brought on by power shortages during peak hours, especially during the summer, Zosimo Briones, district manager of the National Transmission Corp. in Negros, said yesterday.

Negros Island now consumes 200 megawatts of power and the Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant in Palinpinon, Negros Oriental, only produces 170 megawatts, he said.

The newly built Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Bago City, Negros Occidental  only produces 4 to 5 megawatts of power instead of the expected 49 megawatts, Briones also pointed out.

So, without additional power from Leyte, Negros Island would not have enough power, he said.

The power needs of Negros had been growing but its production of power has been stagnant and there is no new local power supply seen within the year, he said.

Agnes de Jesus, senior vice president of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp, said the Northern Negros Geothermal Power Corp offer to Central Negros Electric Cooperative is 30 to 40 megawatts of power.

But PNOC-EDC’s offer to CENECO is premised on its entry into the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park “Buffer Zone” that is why the offer is for that much power by 2010-2011, she said.

PNOC-EDC has asked the Negros Occidental Sanggunian to concur its entry into the buffer zone but the provincial board has yet to come out with a decision.

PNOC-EDC’s low geothermal  capacity at present coming from an area outside the Buffer Zone is distinct and separate from the power that will come from the Buffer Zone by 2010, she said.

“The low production at present is due to the marginal area left for us to tap due to environmental concerns in 1996, all of which we have since addressed.  We have joined the legislative process for 5 years and 4 months until a law was promulgated that allocates a geo buffer zone in the park,” she said.

We can only use the buffer zone based on permits from authorities, she said.

The area PNOC-EDC is currently tapping outside the buffer zone is both marginal and has calcite crystals that we need to continuously clean, she said.

The power situation is Visayas is getting tight and the buffer zone will help provide critical renewable power in 2010, de Jesus said.

CENECO on March 18 signed a power supply agreement for the purchase of 5 megawatts of cheap environment friendly and renewable energy from First Farmers Holding Corp. in Talisay City starting October.

Briones said Negros island suffered from brownouts on March 16 and 17 because the three units of Palinpinon 1 that produce 90 megawatts of power underwent long delayed preventive maintenance work.

There were also brownouts from March 21 to 22 because of the expansion of the submarine cable that links the Leyte geothermal power plant to Negros and Cebu, he said.

The expansion was needed to allow the two islands to tap more power from Leyte, he said. The work was undertaken during the holidays when there was less power consumption, he said.*CPG

back to top