First Gen gas facilities now exporting power to Luzon grid
By Lenie Lectura – April 19, 2017
from Business Mirror
THE gas plants of First Gen Corp. are now exporting power to the Luzon grid following the restoration of the San Lorenzo Switchyard (SL Switchyard).
The switchyard connects First Gen’s three natural gas-fired power plants – the 500-megawatt (MW) San Lorenzo, 414-MW San Gabriel, and 97-MW Avion power plants—to the transmission lines of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). “The connection to the grid of the 500-MW San Lorenzo, 414-MW San Gabriel, and 97-MW Avion plants has been restored. Accordingly, power output from all three power plants can now be exported to the grid,” it said on Wednesday.
The recent earthquake that hit Batangas on April 8 damaged the switchyard. While the 1,000-MW Santa Rita power plant tripped following the earthquakes, preliminary assessment showed the plant and the Santa Rita Switchyard did not suffer any significant damage. The plant has since resumed operations. Of the two 250-MW units (Units 50 and 60) of the San Lorenzo power plant, the connection of San Lorenzo Unit 60 to the grid was the first to be restored. Unit 60 was re-synchronized to the grid and has resumed operations, the company said the other day.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said the earthquake resulted in a generation loss of 2,584 MW, which affected the power supply and services of various provinces in Luzon, including Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Bataan, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija.
The DOE- Energy Policy and Planning Bureau (DOE-EPPB) is drafting a policy on resiliency planning and programs for the energy sector.
The program aims to strengthen existing infrastructure facilities to withstand adverse weather conditions and incorporate mitigation improvements into the restoration of damaged infrastructure so that recurrence will cause less damage.
The proposed program would help improve operational and maintenance standards and practices to ensure expeditious restoration of energy supply after adverse weather conditions.
