The Malampaya natural gas platform in Palawan is now back online and resumed delivering natural gas to the power plants in Batangas, after successfully completing a 19-day maintenance repair, an official said.
“As of 7 a.m. [Thursday], Malampaya is able to deliver natural gas to the plants. This was the update given by Shell,” Energy undersecretary Felix Fuentebella said.
Fuentebella said there was sufficient supply during the shutdown due to “effective demand side management” and the cold weather helped to ease demand.
Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., operator of the Malampaya gas platform in northwest Palawan, submitted its report to the department stating the “all major maintenance and engineering works are completed. “
“Systems are being started up already. Manpower at offshore platform [is] back to normal operational levels,” Spex said.
The Malampaya shutdown which began last January 28 triggered fears of tight power supply. Power distributor Manila Electric Co. computed an increase of P0.92 per kilowatt-hour due to the Malampaya shutdown.