• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The power situation in the island-province of Siquijor has significantly improved as there is now more than enough electricity supply to meet the needs of residents.
The Province of Siquijor Electric Cooperative Inc. (Prosielco), in a post June 15, said that “load shedding has officially ceased” with the integration of two generators into the system to help stabilize power across the island.
The two-megawatt generator of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) arrived June 14, and is now fully operational, with a 1.8MW-1.9MW dependable capacity. The newly-acquired 1MW generator set of Siquijor Island Power Cooperative (Sipcor), which arrived June 12, has also been commissioned and became operational June 13. It is currently providing 850-kilowatt of dependable capacity to the system, Prosielco said.
“With the integration of these two new additional units, Siquijor now has more than enough power supply to meet the needs of the MCOs (member-consumer-owners), and load shedding has officially ceased,” it added. “These generators represent the island’s short-term solution to the month-long power crisis that recently affected our island province.”
The Department of Energy (DOE) also said that, as of June 14, total available capacity in Siquijor has reached 10.6MW.
Of this, 7.2MW comes from the six operational out of eight existing generation units of Sipcor, the 1.7MW generator sets deployed by the Palawan Electric Cooperative Inc., and the 1.7MW from Sipcor’s two rented gensets, the DOE said in a statement June 15.
Repair works on the two remaining Sipcor units are ongoing and are expected to be completed by June 18 for Unit 8, and July 18 for Unit 7, it added. “To further ensure the continuous power supply in the province, the DOE will closely monitor Sipcor’s regulatory compliance with the Energy Regulatory Commission, the timely repair of its genset units, and the delivery of fuel supply.”
It said that Sipcor has committed to meeting the minimum 10-day fuel inventory requirement within the next 10 days to ensure the continuous operations of all its generator sets.
The DOE will also coordinate with Prosielco on the Certificate of Conformity issued by NEA to proceed with the conduct of competitive selection process for the procurement of 5-11MW of baseload power supply.
Prosielco said the Invitation to Bid, as approved by NEA, is scheduled for publication within the week.
“This long-term initiative aligns with the strategic direction expressed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda during their June 11 visit to Siquijor,” the electric cooperative said. “With these developments, we are optimistic that the island will no longer face the same energy challenges in the future.”
On concerns raised about potential increases in the kilowatt-hour rates due to the cost of generator rentals, Prosielco said that neither it nor Sipcor can impose any rate adjustment without the approval of the ERC.
A state of calamity declaration was approved by the Siquijor Sangguniang Panlalawigan early this month, after the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council passed a resolution recommending it, following weeks of power outages that lasted up to 10 or more hours. | CGC
