Two Aboitiz power barges ease electricity shortfall

POWER barges AboitizPower Corp. have been in full operation since their ownership this year are being used to help ease the electricity shortfall in Mindanao.

     AboitizPower president and CEO Erramon Aboitiz said PB 117 and PB 118 each have a generating capacity of 100 MW. 

     Aboitiz said PB 117 is moored at Agusan del Norte, while PB 118 is moored at Compostella Valley.

     He said Mindanao draws 70 percent of its energy requirements from hydropower, making it prone to seasonal changes and disturbances like the El Niño.

     The PB 117 and PB 118 are like “floating power plants” that can be towed to different areas where electricity is needed. Both are huge boats that carry power plants and are connected to the Mindanao Grid through a substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

     AboitizPower took the risk of operating both power barges even without an actual approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the supply contracts in order to mitigate the supply deficit in Mindanao and lessen the rotating brownouts. 

     AboitzPower took over PB 117 and PB 118 through wholly-owned subsidiary Therma Marine, Inc. (TMI) after it won a negotiated bid conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. last year.

     AboitizPower took over PB 117 last March, while it took over PB 118 last February this year. Both facilities had been running non-stop after the two-and-a-half hour obligatory shutdown conducted in facilitating its turnover. 

     Running the PB 117 and PB 118, however, were only part of the solution in addressing the electricity shortfall in Mindanao, Aboitiz said.

     “Additional investment in generating facilities has to be attracted to the island and we think having the WESM (wholesale spot electricity market) operating in the Mindanao Grid is a prerequisite to any new capacity coming in. We firmly believe that a market and competitive environment will attract the required capacity for the Mindanao grid,” he said. 

     Aboitiz added that another factor that aggravated the energy shortfall in Mindanao is that the rapid growth in demand to electricity was not matched with a growth in generation capacity.

     “What Mindanao needs are base load plants to complement the further development of the region’s hydropower potentials so as not to be overly dependent on the weather and ensure adequate reserve capacity,” he said.

     Even with the power barges in place, AboitizPower still continues to grow its reliable energy base.

     “We are committed to provide ample power as and when needed, and we will continue to find effective solutions to our country’s energy requirements,” Aboitiz said.

            AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, retail and power services. It is a major producer of renewable energy in the country with several hydroelectric and geothermal assets in its generation portfolio. The non-renewable portfolio consists of plants throughout the country. The distribution utilities it owns and operates are located in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. pna