ILOILO CITY: The local government here continues to push for an in-house power plant and ancillary service to ensure stable supply in Iloilo City and Panay. Mayor Jerry Treñas made the reaction following the hoisting of the yellow alert over Visayas since Monday. A red alert status was raised for around three hours from 6 p.m. on April 15 due to an outage of a plant with a 103-megawatt capacity. "That's why I have been talking to MORE Power (and) also to (Energy) Secretary (Raphael) Popo Lotilla that we need an investor for an in-house power plant. If we cannot have that, it will be the same problem," he said. Treñas said MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) found a bigger power barge owned by Aboitiz in Luzon as a possible supplier of the ancillary service. The National Grid Corporation (NGCP) on Thursday raised a yellow alert from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. over the Visayas grid, which means 'the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid's contingency requirement.' The available capacity in Visayas is at 2,662 megawatts, and the peak demand could reach up to 2,465 megawatts, the advisory said. Power plants based in Panay include the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC), the Panay Diesel Power Plant, and the Power Barge 101. In a separate interview, MORE Power president Roel Castro said that according to the NGCP, there is a need for ancillary services in Panay because it has a different configuration as an island. However, there has to be an exemption from the competitive selection process and the declaration of the zonal ancillary services for Panay for the NGCP to contract the service. Currently, there are two proposals for the ancillary, including the asset of Panay power plant with a 50-megawatt capacity and the Aboitiz power barge with an 80-megawatt capacity. Castro said they consider Aboitiz because it has a bigger capacity and does not need rehabilitation, but they also kept the Panay power plant as an option. 'Immediately when there is an approval from the DOE and the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) for that, and there is an agreement with the NGCP, they can immediately transfer it and it will be immediately used,' he said. Source: Philippines News Agency
