DOE, power suppliers assure stable supply during APEC

• Source: http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2015/07/11/1475699/doe-power-suppliers-assure-stable-supply-during-apec
• Saturday, July 11, 2015 12:00 am

By Michael Vencynth H. Braga / ATO (The Freeman)

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Energy-7 and power distribution utilities serving Metro Cebu have guaranteed that power interruptions will not be an issue during the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meetings in Cebu starting next month until October.

DOE-7 Director Antonio Labios, reported during a Kapistorya forum organized by the Provincial Information Office yesterday, that he asked the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to conduct pre-APEC preventive maintenance to its transmission system.

Labios said he instructed NGCP to take contingency measures and ensure there is sufficient power reserve during the APEC season.

He suggested excluding feeders in APEC venues should there be a need for a manual load dropping.

Over 3,000 delegates from different member-economies are expected to attend the meetings.

The delegates will be billeted in different hotels including Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Cebu City Marriott Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel-Cebu and Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. These hotels, as well as the Grand Convention Center of Cebu, will also be the meeting venues. DOE-7 has also asked generation companies to schedule their preventive maintenance prior to the APEC meetings. Freeman ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

“Ang NGCP pod assured nga way maintenance mahitabo during Apec,” Labios added.

Labios further reported that the power situation in Visayas is currently normal, with sufficient power reserves at 282 megawatts. Visayas area has 1,700 megawatts power capacity while the average demand is pegged at 1,400 megawatts.

He attributed the low demand to the rainy season because consumers do not use air conditioning units often.

DOE-7 will meet generation companies next week to discuss their preparations for the APEC.

The Visayan Electric Company (VECO), for its part, committed to ensuring that power supply during the APEC season is continuous. VECO’s franchise area covers Metro Cebu, which is from Liloan in the north to San Fernando in the south.

Juan Miguel Exaltacion, manager of the systems operations department of VECO, said they have come up with contingency plan for unplanned outages.

“We can restore power in just a minimum amount of time. All plans are asset for APEC summit,” Exaltacion assured during the Kapistorya forum.