EDC to shut down Bacman unit on May 2 for inspection

Fifty-five megawatts (MW) of the 150-megawatt Bacon-Manito Geothermal plants in Bacon, Sorsogon and Manito, Albay will be shut down on May 2 for inspection, Energy Development Corporation (EDC) said Monday in a discosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. "We advise the PSE that as planned, we will shut down unit 1 on May 2, 2013 for an inspection. We will make further decisions concerning the unit once the inspection has been carried out," the company said in its statement. According to EDC, the 55 MW-capacity unit at Bacman 1, which was started up on March 27, was able to generate a load of 28 MW on April 4 and 55 MW starting April 6. The plant will be shut down for not more than 30 days while the company assesses its condition. The geothermal power plants at Bacon-Manito consist of the two 55-MW units of Bacman 1 and two 20-MW units of Bacman 2. Currently, only 20 MW is running for Bacman 2 due to technical issues. Both 55 MW units have been operating at full load since January to early February, prior to an earlier shutdown of the plants due to technical problems. The Lopez-led EDC is a subsidiary of First Gen Corporation. — BM, GMA News