South Philippines power shortfall goes from bad to worse
Play
People living in Mindanao in south Philippines will have to brace themselves for a more severe power shortages from this month when the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant of Steag State Power in Misamis Oriental undergoes preventive maintenance.
In an e-mail to reporters, Steag communications officer Jerome Soldevilla said the 105-MW Unit 1 will be shut down from Saturday to November 4, while the 105-MW Unit 2 will be closed for repairs from October 29 to November 10. This means that maintenance work on the two power units will coincide for roughly one week.
“Carrying out the maintenance work as planned will bring in long-term benefits for Mindanao power consumers in terms of the power plant’s operational reliability,” Soldevilla explained.
This is the first time Steag State Power will undertake extended repair work since the facility started operating in November 2006, he added.
Maintenance work on the power plant was recommended by the Mindanao Grid Operations and Maintenance Planning Group comprised of National Grid Corp of the Philippines, the National Power Corp and Independent Power Producers, Soldevilla said.
