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Limay, Bataan power plant to be up and running on Tuesday


A Limay, Bataan power plant will be operational by Tuesday, February 16, producing enough electricity to avert hour-long brownouts in Metro Manila. This was announced by the San Miguel Energy Corp. (SMEC), a unit of food conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) that runs the 620 megawatt (mW) plant. Ramon S. Ang, San Miguel Corp. president, said he already gave “the go-signal to start plant production." Metro Manila will suffer from one-hour rotating brownouts if the facility fails to come onstream on Tuesday, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said earlier. But at the same time, the energy secretary said that everything is under control despite reports of technical issues and fuel supply problems. The Philippines’ power reserves continue to decline, based on an updated report provided by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). Power reserves in Luzon – the country’s largest island – currently amounts to 696 mW after peak demand reaches 6,551 mW from the current 7,247 mW available capacity. In the Visayas, the NGCP – which runs the country’s power grid – reported a 115 mW shortage after the demand peak reached 1,176 mW as against the 1,0611 mW available capacity. A similar shortfall of 116 mW has also been reported in Mindanao after peak demand hit 1,210 mW as against the 1,094 mW available capacity. “Electricity supply generated from power plants continues to be low and may not be enough to meet the demand of all power grid users," the NGCP said in a statement. Seven power plants in Luzon – the Binga 1, Bacman 4, Ilijan A1, Sta. Rita 1, Ilijan A2, Makban 7 and Sta Rita 3 – are undergoing maintenance shutdown, the NGCP said. Although the Ilijan A3 is running, it only produces 20 mW of power. In the Visayas, three power plants are still down while in Mindanao the Agust 5 and PB 118 Unit 2 diesel are running at available capacity of 41 mW and 96 mW as against their rated capacity 55 mW and 100 mW, respectively. During shutdowns, preventive maintenance activities are implemented to improve facilities and services. Thin reserves may force the NGCP to cut power loads among grid users to ration available power and to ensure the reliability and stability of the entire transmission network. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

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