09/01/2022
It may take until April, 2022 for power services to normalize in the province as per the assessment of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), as Governor Art Yap announced.
NGCP plans to replace two typhoon-stricken towers that transmit power from Leyte to Bohol’s distribution utilities (DU).
“Kung tatanuning natin yung NGCP, to fix their two towers in Ubay, that’s still going to take until April, so we have to survive on power barges until that time,” said Yap in an interview over CNN Philippines on Thursday.
While the two typhoon-stricken towers are set to be replaced, Bohol has been largely dependent on energy sources in Leyte to meet its daily power requirement of 90 megawatts (MW) due to insufficient in-island power supply.
According to Yap, around 4.8 MW has been supplied to limited areas under the franchises of Power Barge 104 in Ubay among Bohol’s three DUs.
Bohol have made its initial plans on having its own power source considering the threat of disasters such as storms and earthquakes which battered Leyte including its geothermal power plants, causing Bohol to have no electricity for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Bohol resisents will have to depend on the Power Barge 104 in Ubay and the Bohol Diesel Power Plant (BBDP), both owned by the SPC Power Corporation, which can generate 32 MW and 16 MW, but can meet only half of the province’s estimated daily power requirement of around 90 MW.
However, the BBDP is currently undergoing repairs due to damaged equipment at the facility that exploded two weeks ago, so it is yet to be activated.
Source: The Bohol Chronicle
Photo: Rappler
