Less brownout in Mindanao as 105 MW power restored to Mindanao’s grid

KIDAPAWAN CITY – A total of 105 MW of power generated from a coal-fired power plant were restoredto the Mindanao grid after the STEAG State Power, Inc (SPI) has completed Monday the preventive maintenance of its first unit in Misamis Oriental, an SPI official said. Jerome Soldevilla of SPI said they successfully completed as planned and scheduled the preventive maintenance for its electric power generating unit that has a total capacity of 105 MW. Soldevilla, citing SPI Power Plant Manager Dr. Carsten Evers, said the unit was officially synchronized to the Mindanao grid at around 6:08 am on March 2. Meantime, Soldevilla said SPI’s another unit 2 went offline starting Feb 19 for its scheduled preventive maintenance to sustain its long-term power plant operations. It also has a total capacity of 105 MW. Dr. Evers, in a statement, said the preventive maintenance works were carefully planned, scheduled and coordinated with key players in the power industry including the grid operator, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, to minimize any adverse impact on the already volatile power supply condition of Mindanao. The preventive maintance for SPI’s Unit 1, according to Soldevilla, is currently in full swing and on–track. Barring any complications, unit 1 is expected to be back on line on or before 16 March 2015. The unit went offline for a planned preventive maintenance beginning 21 February 2015. The SPI’s power plant at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental is composed of two identical power generating units, each with a net generating output of 105MW. The SPI, principally owned by a German company STEAG, said that since the start of its operations in November 2006, it already delivered more than 11.5 billion kWh of electricity representing about a fifth of Mindanao’s total power supply. With SPI’s first unit already in full swing, it means lesser load curtailment to distribution utilities operating in Mindanao, according to Vincent Baguio, spokesperson for the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco). Cotelco buys power from the grid. Since Feb 19, the Cotelco schedules a one to two-hour rotating brownouts in its area of coverage.