Two EDC power plants placed on extended outage for repairs

Two power plants of the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) were placed on an extended outage to make way for repairs of damaged components following the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit the Visayas last Thursday.

"As of July 9, one unit each of both the Tongonan and Malitbog power plants will need to be on extended outage for repair works on damages to the structures of their respective cooling tower units," EDC said in a filing on the local stock exchange on Monday.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the island of Leyte at 4:03 p.m. on July 6.

Through its subsidiary Green Core Geothermal Inc., EDC operates the 112.5 megawatt (MW) Tongonan geothermal power plant in Kananga, Leyte. It also operates the 232.5MW Malitbog geothermal power in Kananga.

EDC told the Philippine Stock Exchange that the power plants of its Leyte Geothermal Project "tripped" when the earthquake struck.

Meanwhile, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said its Ormoc Substation has resumed operations and will be able to distribute power from Cebu to the quake-hit areas.

NGCP is the private sector manager and operator of the country's power transmission network.

"Once testing is successful, power will be able to flow through the Tabango-Ormoc bypass line, which will allow Samar, Leyte, Biliran, and Bohol to receive power from Cebu," it said in an update early Monday.

The Ormoc-Togonon line is also ready to receive power from the Tongonan Plant as soon as supply becomes available, the NGCP noted. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News