ILOILO City – Chief executives of the city and province of Iloilo led two separate meetings recently with water and energy stakeholders to seek solutions and avert a possible crisis in Metro Iloilo and Panay Island.
During the Panay energy stakeholders meeting on March 7 at the Iloilo City Hall Penthouse, some short-term solutions to persistent power problems were presented to Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
One of these is the plan of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to re-commission Panay Power Corporation’s (PPC) diesel plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district for ancillary supply of 50 to 60 megawatts.
“This will further ensure that in case something goes wrong with the transmission lines, we will avoid a five-day blackout because they can immediately restart the diesel plant. It’s now a question of recovery of the cost,” Treñas said.
Another recommendation was the zonal allocation of Panay Island to lessen its dependency on outside plants.
“The island will be considered a zone. Ibig sabihin nung zonal allocation, mag-a-allocate ka ng ancillary services for the particular island or zone,” explain ed Director Irma C. Exconde of the Department of Energy (DOE) Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB).
She said they would work with Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and other stakeholders, and review the recommendation on ancillary services, including cost recovery, as well as discuss the policy covering it.
“I think everybody agrees doon sa solutions; ang concerns ng mga generators paano ‘yung mga cost recoveries,” she said.
The completion of the much delayed upgrading of Cebu-Negros-Panay Grid by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is seen to be another remedy.
The backbone project, which is now 97.44 percent complete, is targeted to be energized on or before March 31. Through this, Negros and Panay grids could import power from Mindanao and Luzon grid interconnection using the 230kV Transmission Line.
“That will allow more stable transmission coming from Cebu and Negros, especially because there’s a lot of solar power and renewable energy coming from Negros that can help us,” Treñas said.
The city mayor, who also chairs the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Western Visayas, said that with these short-term solutions, long blackouts in Metro Iloilo and the whole Region 6 could be avoided.“Assuming that the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid is completed because by then they can carry 800 megawatts, and the agreement of MORE Power and Global [Business Power] will also push through, the up-to five-day blackout is very close to impossible,” he said.
While the city mayor expressed satisfaction on these short term solutions, he emphasized that the long-term solutions must also be put in place. He cited the need for in-island power generator whether solar, wind or liquefied natural gas.
For another long-term solution, the planned Luzon-Mindoro-Panay grid interconnection would significantly improve the reliability of the Panay grid. However, this may happen in 2040 yet.
According to Treñas, he discussed this with MORE Power president and chief executive officer Roel Castro on how this could be completed earlier.
Aside from the energy stakeholders, the meeting was also joined by representatives from nearby local government units, hospital managements, business process outsourcing companies, and the business community.
On the other hand, Treñas and Defensor also led the talk with local water industry key players, Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW) and Flo Water Resources Inc., to ensure the sufficiency of water supply to the Ilonggos.
Engr. Robert Cabiles, MPIW Chief Operating Officer said, through the support of the two local leaders, “both companies have agreed to solutions to ensure additional delivery of safe and reliable water supply to our communities.”
Cabiles noted that MPIW has been relentless in its efforts to manage and find new sources of potable water to address the gap between supply and demand in Metro Iloilo, most especially in Iloilo City.
“We are happy that a progressive decision was made between MPIW and FloWater Resources,” he said.
Currently, amid the El Niño phenomenon, MPIW continues to have regular operations and normal level of their water sources.
It is receiving 73 to 75 million of liters per day (MLD) from its bulk water suppliers, which is considered as normal based on their service areas’ requirement.
This is, in fact, higher compared to November and December last year with around 68 MLD.
Aside from Iloilo City, MPIW also serves the towns of Oton, Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan, Maasin, San Miguel, Pavia, and Leganes in Iloilo province, with 48,000 total concessionaires./PN
