Malampaya shutdown worries Energy’s Cusi

By Alena Mae S. Flores – January 27, 2019 at 07:15 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Department of Energy is considering several measures to prevent price spikes during the expected shutdown of the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan in October.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the DoE wrote the service contract 38 consortium, operator of the Malampaya gas project, asking about the maintenance schedule this year.

Cusi said he wanted to know as early as possible the timeline of the shutdown so preparations can be made ahead.

“We don’t want to be unprepared. I want to know. They said October this year. What are preparations, measures that will be undertaken (so) that there will be fuel for the plants that are dependent on them,” the energy chief said.

The Malampaya gas-to-power project fuels five natural gas power plants with a total capacity of over 3,000 megawatts.

Cusi said some natural gas power plants could run on condensate, which is produced by the Malampaya gas field.

A source from the SC 38 consortium said the shutdown would be for “less than a week.”