DOE hopeful on new power plants

The Department of Energy (DOE)  said on Friday that several new power facilities have been completed and may help augment the 2,4000 megawatts that the grid lost after two major transmission lines tripped this week.

These new energy facilities, which can generate up to 1,400 megawatts, are being prepared to be connected to the country’s power grid, DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan told state television PTV.

“Nag-mo-monitor po tayo ng bagong mga proyekto upang maging immediately available ang mga plantang ito,” he said.

“Ready to be commissioned at nag uundergo na ng testing and commissioning,” he said, without saying the locations of these new facilities

Earlier this week, the Dasmariñas-Ilijan and the Tayabas-Ilijan transmission lines tripped, forcing 5 power plants to shut down and reducing the country’s power supply by 20 percent, the DOE official said.

“Nagkaroon po tayo ng red alert dahil sa kakulangan ng suplay ng ating reserba dahil sa pagtaas ng demand,” Marasigan said.

“Dahil sa pag-angat ng ating mga demand, mayroon kailangan i-implement na rotational brownout,” he said.

The DOE has yet to say when it expects the issue to be resolved, as facilities involved in the incident were given 24 hours to submit their explanations to the agency.