The Malampaya gas-to-power project will be undergoing maintenance shutdown on February 4 to 18, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) has announced.
“During this period, the supply of gas will temporarily stop, and will lead the power plants to switch to alternate sources of fuel,” the DOE said in a statement released Friday.
Malampaya operator, Prime Energy, said that the scheduled maintenance was initially planned last October, but was moved to the first quarter of 2023 to avoid the typhoon season “that can potentially cause start-up delays as experienced in 2021.”
The DOE is currently working on contingency measures to assure a continuous supply of power during the maintenance shutdown. Among these include the designation of “must-run” power plants, which must supply electricity to the grid under all conditions.
The Energy Department is also coordinating with the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) and other distribution utilities and retail electricity suppliers to activate and expand its Interruptible Load Program to mitigate the impact during supply deficiency and power interruptions.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is also tasked to accelerate the completion of its transmission lines in the Luzon Grid and implement advanced announcements of red and yellow alerts.
Malampaya’s Service Contract (SC) 38 will expire on February 23, 2024, and is also seen to be completely depleted by 2027. The gas field produces gas for power plants in Batangas City, accounting for 20% of Luzon’s energy requirements.
