Therma Marine: Barges running full-time to meet Mindanao power demand

The two diesel-fired power barges of energy firm Therma Marine Inc. are running 24 hours every day to try to meet the power demand from Mindanao's electric cooperatives, the company said in a statement on Monday. “The traditional role of peaking plants like Therma Marine is to provide back-up and ancillary power to the grid. But with no other capacity left to help the electric cooperatives, we are now running almost like a baseload power plant,” Therma Marine chief operating officer Jovy Batiquin said in the statement. Mindanao's power supply is currently short by more than 300 megawatts (MW) of what it needs, based on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' power demand scenario. Mindanao is expected to have a system peak load of 1,143 MW on Monday against a system capacity of 810 MW. Some areas in the region reportedly experience power outages of four to six hours' duration. Therma Marine, a subsidiary of the Aboitiz Power Corporation, produces 200 MW from its power barges in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte and Maco, Compostela Valley. The barges supply power to 23 electric cooperatives and distribution utilities to add to the supply provided by state-owned National Power Corporation (Napocor). Therma Marine said that cooperatives are turning more and more to it for their power supply needs, with Napocor being unable to supply enough for their demands. “Unfortunately, Therma Marine is already fully contracted and we could no longer produce more and supply more power to electric cooperatives despite many requests for additional capacity,” said Batiquin. “We have been on our toes since 2010 and we expect to work doubly hard this year and next year until major power plants come in by 2015,” he added. — BM, GMA News