Pantabangan power plant to shut down

PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija, Philippines — The Pantabangan-Masiway Hydroelectric Power Plant (PHEPP) will cease operations as the head water level nears critical level.

The PHEPP said the water level dipped to 179.8 meters yesterday and is expected to drop to 177 meters by March 27.

Based on the projections of the National Irrigation Administration, a head water level of 177 meters and below is considered “critical. ”

The head water level should remain at 221 meters, PHEPP operations officer Ronald Salvador said.

He said the water level must be at least 207 meters to generate a full capacity of 120 megawatts.

Unit 1 of the plant is on preventive maintenance until March 24 while Unit 2 will be shut down until the end of April or May.

Salvador said preventive maintenance would be conducted while the power plant is not operational.

“Capacity is going lower and lower. We did not have that much (capacity) last year because it rarely rained here in Pantabangan,” he said.

Richard Difuntorum, Casecnan-Pantabangan complex head, however, gave assurance that the shutdown of the power plant would not affect the Luzon grid.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said the Luzon grid has an available generating capacity of 14,709 MW and a system peak demand of 11,284 MW.

Difuntorum said the PHEPP “normally” shuts down on the third week of April and during the dry season due to lack of rainfall.

Despite the shutdown, Difontorum said the power plant can still discharge water through its irrigation tunnel.

“Shutting down doesn’t mean we will not release water,” he said.

The PHEPP has separate tunnels for power generation and irrigation.