Around 2, 170 megawatts (MW) worth of power will be non-operational on the 20 day maintenance period of the Malampaya gas project set in the last week of January, higher than the expected outage of 1,850 MW.
This is because the San Gabriel plant, located in Batangas City, cannot run on diesel, Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a report by BusinessWorld.
“There’s this one plant that can’t take diesel. It’s San Gabriel. That one will be down. So that added up to 2,170 MW. This is in addition to SLTEC [South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp.] units 1 and 2,” he said.
“The good news is Avion could run also on diesel, so it can deliver,” Fuentebella added.
The DOE official said that they are exploring options that will cover the loss of energy supply during the Malampaya maintenance.
“On the distribution side, Meralco is running simulations and talking with the ILP (Interruptible Load Program) participants. There are some commitments like Ayala and SM. What we want to know is whether the commitments can cover 2,000 MW.”
He added that the DOE is looking into tapping the renewable energy sector amid the shutdown.
“As far as our numbers right now are concerned, yes, there is enough [power],” Fuentebella told CNN Philippines. “But we have to be sure, so we also ask the demand side and the renewable energy side to be prepared.”
Other power plants affected by the maintenance shutdown include: 600 MW from the first block of the Ilijan plant; 456 MW from the Quezon Power Philippines Ltd; 414 MW from the San Gabriel plant; 180 MW from the second block of the Ilijan plant; 123 MW from the SLREC Unit 2; 121 MW from SLTEC Unit 1; and 76 MW from the Tiwi Units 5 and 6.
The Malampaya gas project is set to undergo a maintenance shutdown from January 28 to February 16. The project, located in the offshores of Palawan, accounts for 20% of the country’s power requirements.