Disaster agency to tap private generator sets for elections

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on Sunday announced plans to mobilize and use privately owned generators in every precinct cluster to ensure that power outages would not disrupt the automated elections on May 10.
An inventory of all power generators

in the country is one of the key agenda items in a meeting of council officers and regional directors in Cebu City, said Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, who is also NDCC chair.
“We will be asking our people who have generators to register them with the NDCC so we can use them during the elections,” Gonzales said.
He noted that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had already obtained backup generators for the balloting, but the NDCC saw the need to carry out parallel contingency preparations to allay fears of a failure of elections.
“We cannot afford to have a failure of election,” Gonzales said. “The government should exert all efforts to eliminate the possibility of a failure of elections.”
Critics say Gonzales and Gen. Delfin Bangit, the newly appointed chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, are behind a military plan to keep President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in office if the vote does not result in a new Chief Executive.
Gonzales and Bangit have dismissed the speculation amid concern over the purported inability of election officials to meet targets in preparations for the country’s first nationwide electronic vote.
Both Gonzales and Bangit have vowed to ensure a smooth transition of power when Ms Arroyo’s term ends on June 30.
Power deficiency
Gonzales said the NDCC was working on contingency measures to ensure that blackouts do not occur in Mindanao from May 8 to 12. One of them is to make sure that Lake Lanao is able to supply enough water for the hydropower plants during the election period, he said.
Early this month, Mindanao was placed under a state of calamity due to severe power deficiency as a result of El Niño phenomenon that continue to dry up rivers, lakes and dams.
The power shortage on the island, which is 55-percent dependent on hydropower for electricity, has resulted in eight- to 12-hour brownouts daily.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100329-261379/Disaster-agency-to-tap-private-generator-sets-for-elections

Dilapidated plant generators blamed for repeated power blackouts in Bali

Old and dilapidated generators in power plants are to blame for recurrent blackouts in Bali despite the completion of routine maintenance in Gilimanuk gas-powered electricity power plant, an official says.
The Bali branch of state electricity company PT PLN attributed decreasing power supply to technical disturbance in Gilimanuk power plant and faulty underwater transmission cables that supply power from Java's power plants to Bali.
Branch spokesperson Agung Mastika said disturbance also frequently occured in generators in Pesanggaran diesel-powered power plant in Denpasar and Pemaron gas-powered power plant in Buleleng.
"All the machines are very old, they were made in the 1970s. Although we have conducted routine maintenance, technical errors still occur, thus decreasing the power supply, and the only solution is to cut the power temporarily," he said, adding the older the machine was, the more fuel would be needed.
"A new car only needs a liter of gasoline to go 10 kilometers, while an old car needs several more liters to go through the same distance."
To supply electricity in Bali, PLN operates three power plants: Pesanggaran, Pemaron and Gilimanuk.
The Pesanggaran plant operates 15 generators with a total capacity of 182 MW, while the Pemaron plant has two machines with a capacity of 80 MW. The Gilimanuk plant in Jembrana only operates one machine with 130 MW.
With an additional 200 MW supplied from Java, the total power supply in Bali reaches 582 MW.
Mastika said the electricity usage in Bali was increasing, as indicated by the rising peak load, which has reached 515 MW.
"The old machines should be overhauled, in order to increase its capacity and reduce the risk of rotational blackouts. However, it needs a lot of money and it cannot be completed in short time."
PLN urged the provincial administration to create alternative energy sources, including by accelerating the ongoing Bali Crossing Transmission project, which could provide between 1,600 and 2,000 MW of power supply.
Mastika said that teams from his company and from the provincial administration have discussed the project and check the route. The project has been a subject of controversy since it is feared that it will disturb the ecosystem in the West Bali National Park in Jembrana.
Putu Armaya, head of Consumer Protection Foundation in Bali, said that the province should be self-reliance in providing energy.
"We cannot continue to rely on the existing supply. If the Bedugul project has been opposed and the progress of Bali Crossing project remains sluggish, then the provincial administration should find other solutions."
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/15/dilapidated-plant-generators-blamed-repeated-power-blackouts-bali.html

Brownouts in Metro Manila avoided today

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will no longer implement the one-hour rotating power interruptions in Metro Manila today, company spokesman Joe R. Zaldarriaga said this afternoon.
The brownouts have been averted after the 1,200 megawatt (MW) Ilijan plant shored in an additional 450 MW this morning and with the actual peak demand in the Luzon grid reduced by about 200 MW.

Jesusit H. Sulito, senior adviser to the president of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, said the 1,200 MW Ilijan plant of Korea Electric Power Corp. is now generating 900 MWs for the Luzon grid.

The power interruptions in the Meralco franchise area, announced earlier, were originally scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. -- Jose Bimbo F. Santos 
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=7709