Kepco SPC Power Corp. shut down its 200-megawatt power plant in Cebu, after a fire damaged the coal conveyor that prevented the supply of coal to the plant.
Kepco SPC said in a statement a fire occurred at the crusher building of the coal plant in Naga at 5:20 a.m. May 30.
“The root cause of the fire and the actual damage to the equipment of the plant are still being further investigated. But initial assessment showed heat friction from coal dusts between the pulley and the conveyor may have triggered the ignition of the fire,” it said.
Firefighters immediately contained the fire and totally extinguished the fire at 6:30 a.m.
“No one was injured. However, the conveyor from the crusher building was also partially damaged and this prevented the continuous feeding of coal fuel,” Kepco said.
The remaining coal at the storage silo can only last up to Saturday evening for Unit 1 after which the plant needed to be shut down to immediately start the repair of the damage portions of the crusher building and conveyor.
Kepco SPC said the repair works would take a few days. The plant supplies power to the Mactan Electric Cooperative and most of electric cooperatives in Panay.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, meanwhile, approved to move earlier to 12 midnight the scheduled maintenance of Unit 2.
Unit 2 has been planned to be shut down for its plant preventive maintenance schedule on June 6 to 28, 2015.
Kepco SPC’s circulating fluidized bed combustion power plant consists of two units of 100 MW capacity.
The crusher building consists of the coal crushers, bucket elevators and conveyor lines.
“Only the sixth floor of the crusher building was damaged by the fire. The fire incident has also no impact on the plant’s ability to operate as soon as the coal conveyor can be repaired,” the company said.
Kepco SPC management expressed their appreciation to the firefighters and the plant employees, who quickly responded to put out the fire.
“The KSPC management will immediately commence the repair of the damaged portion of the coal convey system and is developing the best plans to shorten the period of the repair so Unit 1 can go on line the soonest time possible,” the company said