Drought, blackouts loom
More rotating blackouts lasting for two hours or more loom as soaring temperatures continue to push
power demand and gnaw on the limited supply of water, coal and other fuels for power plants. Yesterday, four- to five-hour blackouts hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces as major power stations failed to cope with a sudden surge in demand. The blackout yesterday came three months after a similar unexpected spike in demand triggered a massive power outage in Metro Manila and a large portion of Northern Luzon. The situation may worsen as early as next week if the delivery of coal from China fails to arrive as scheduled or if the water level at dams that feed hydropower plants remains at critically low level. As of 1 p.m. yesterday, blackouts covered large areas of Pasig, Mandaluyong, Quezon City and Makati in Metro Manila, as well as large areas in Cavite, Bulacan and Laguna. The power supply cutback from the
National Power Corp. prompted the selective power rationing by the Manila Electric Co. yesterday. The power shortfall was estimated at 466
megawatts and that rotating blackouts were implemented as early as 8:45 a.m. “to address this deficit and to maintain system balance,” a statement from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market read. It was learned that National Power Corp. had to divert one panamax shipment of Newlands Australian coal to the 1,200-megawatt Sual plant in Pangasinan from the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power facility last July 23 to avert a two-day blackout that could have started an hour before President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address. Napocor’s System Operator revealed that it had issued a “
red alert” status hours before the President’s SONA due to the low coal inventory at Sual. Coal supplier Glencore Far East Philippines AG, reports said, reluctantly diverted the coal shipment when Napocor invoked “national interest.” Napocor, in a statement, said the situation would normalize as “additional capacities” from coal and oil-fired plants arrive and as cloud seeding continues. “The rains are not coming in as expected, causing low inflows of water into the dams that provide fuel to hydropower plants such as Angat, Magat, Pantabangan, San Roque and Binga,” National Power President Cyril del Callar said. “If you will notice during the afternoons for the past two weeks, rains have been falling in Metro Manila, causing our temperature to decrease. The rains are due to our cloud seeding operations, and we will continue doing this as long as it is required,” Del Callar added. He said that the National Disaster Coordinating Council or NDCC, on Mrs. Arroyo’s orders, would provide two more aircraft for cloud seeding to Napocor. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) for its part expressed alarm over the extended dry season. The prolonged dry spell has left Napocor’s hydropower plants at Magat, Pantabangan, San Roque, and Binga critically short of water supply. “The situation is really quite alarming,” said Pagasa deputy director for research and development Dr. Nathaniel Servando, during a climate forum at the Pagasa main office in Quezon City. Servando said that aside from Metro Manila, “below normal rainfall” was also reported in Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Cavite, and Agusan del Norte. In June, Bataan, Pampanga and Zambales and Metro Manila received below normal rainfall. He said areas with “below normal” rains for three consecutive months could be declared under drought condition. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture said it is conducting its own cloud seeding operations to increase Angat Dam’s water level. Leilanie Naga, BSWM cloud seeding officer, said Napocor and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System have sought her agency’s help in inducing rains over Angat Dam, whichsupplies 97 percent of the water needs of Metro Manila and most of the farms in Central Luzon. But Rodolfo German, the general manager of the Angat River Hydro Electric Power Plant of Napocor, said the cloud seeding operations have hardly improved the dam’s water level. Angat’s water level continued to drop from 173.73 meters on Monday to 173.10 meters yesterday. German said the 245-megawatt power plant was able to generate only 70MW on Tuesday. Weather specialist Rusy Abastillas, however, said nine to 12 tropical cyclones might enter the Philippine area of responsibility beginning next month up to December, with the fourth quarter’s cyclones mostly induced by the northeast monsoon or amihan.
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