Cusi: 24/7 work sealed to restore power in quake-hit areas

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte   -Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi thanked on Saturday the men and women working on 24-hour shifts to bring back electricity within three to five days in the quake-affected areas in the Visayas, especially in Leyte.

Cusi on Saturday conducted an aerial and ground inspection of the various power plants, including geothermal facilities, that sustained damage from the magnitude 6.5 quake that recently hit the region.

A combination of bypass and build-back-better strategies are being implemented by the engineers, with Cusi expressing hope that power will be fully restored within seven days.

"I commend the dedicated Warays and the other personnel who are working 24/7 to fast track the delivery of safe and reliable electricity services to around three million consumers," said Cusi.

"The Yolanda experience taught us a lot and I have seen that we have improved on our restoration practices," he said, adding "but there is always room for improvement.”

"I am hopeful that we can see a tremendous improvement in the delivery of energy services within three to seven days."

Among the power plants inspected by Cusi are the 1) 180 megawatts (MW) Mahanagdong Geothermal Power Plant (GPP); 2) 230 MW Malitbog GPP; 3) 120 MW Tongonan GPP; and 4) 120 MW Upper Mahiao GPP.

The said power plants have seven other optimizing plants in their system with an additional generation of 50 MW.

Cusi received the following briefing from Energy Development Corp. (EDC) president Ricky Tantoco and vice president Lito Santos, regarding the various issues brought about by the quake and the actions being taken to resolve them:

 The Mahanagdong landslide, the damage to the Malitbog cooling tower, the destruction of the Tongonan plant and problems accessing Mahiao.

The Tongonan facility sustained damages to its office, the plant itself and transformer. Out of the potential 120 MW, 40 MW is being targeted to be delivered within seven to eight days, another 40 MW by September 1 and the last 40 MW within 50 days.

(The Tongonan GPP is directly connected to the 138 kilovolt (KV) transmission line which is operated by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines)

 The Malitbog GPP can deliver around 150 MW by 11 July 2017 to the areas of Samar and Ormoc City because it sustained minor damages.

(The Malitbog, Mahanagdong and Mahiao GPPs deliver electricity through the Marshalling Station which was likewise damaged by the earthquake).

Meanwhile, the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), in a press release on Saturday, said their Leyte power plants were still shut down while assessment of the full extent of damage was ongoing.

The EDC president, who has been at the site since Friday, was with the energy secretary when the latter inspected the facilities.

The press release said that "barring any unforeseen issues, EDC could have about 317 MW of power restored to Leyte within the next 10 days."

"Meanwhile, repair of the marshalling station has commended and we expect it to be operational in three to five days," said in the press release.