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January 7, 2011
This early in the new year, the government is already sounding the alarm for possible three-hour blackouts and water shortages this summer not only in Metro Manila and Luzon but also in Mindanao.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras himself aired the warning, saying that Metro Manila will be particularly hard hit by the outages, even as he asked the power-generating companies to do preventive maintenance now to avoid any interruptions, especially during summer. To illustrate, the energy chief pointed out that if peak demand reaches 7,900 megawatts, the metropolis will be short of 300 megawatts.” That would mean rotating outages of three hours a day. With the government projecting a 7-percent to 8-percent growth in the economy, Luzon will need about 500 megawatts of extra power to keep up with demand.
Secretary Almendras pointed to the May 2009 experience when peak demand for power in Luzon reached 6,928 megawatts, which was 3.8 percent higher than the 6,674 megawatts recorded in 2008. This situation necessited rotating brownouts. This time, the only way to avoid the blackouts, is all the power plants should be running and, at the same time, additional capacity should be tapped. And to avoid the blackouts in Metro Manila, between 150 to 200 megawatts of extra power supply from the Visayas should be rigged for the metropolis apart from expansion and rehabilitation of existing power plants. Already, a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant is being built by GNPower Co. in Bataan. Other coal-fired power projects on the drawing board will be built by San Miguel Corp., Manila Electric Co., and Aboitiz Power Corp. but the same could be put into use only after three to five years of construction and preparations.
Mindanao might also continue to experience power outages during this summer, according to Secretary Almendras. Mindanao was the worst hit region in 2010 due to the impact of El Niño on its hydro-electric plants. “As of now, Mindanao’s dam levels are very good… Mindanao will experience outages, but not as bad as [last year’s] because of all the measures we have undertaken,” he said.
Secretary Almendras warned that the power problem is expected to be aggravated by water shortage that is seen to worsen this year. Already, the water level at the Angat Dam hydroelectric power plant in Bulacan continues to dip due to lack of rain resulting to a supply problem this early. Angat Dam is also the main source of potable water for Metro Manila. Actually, some 41 cubic meters per second of raw water from Angat Dam had been allocated to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and its two water concessionaires, Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc., until Dec. 31. But the National Water Resources Board is cutting the allocation down to 37 cubic meters per second starting Jan. 1 due to the dropping water level in the dam.
There’s a need to review the country’s power and water needs early on as is being done now by the Department of Energy under Secretary Almendras, so that proper remedies could be made. The situation also necessitates early planning for the next three to five years or even longer to avoid a costly crisis that will affect even the economy of the country. Otherwise, we will just pray for typhoons to come and bring water that are badly needed by our dams and hydroelectric plants.