Power retailer Manila Electric Co. is making its own preparations for the scheduled maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas project in October, a top executive said Monday.
Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez said the company would be looking for other sources of power if needed.
The Malampaya consortium plans a four-day maintenance shutdown on Oct. 12 to 16. This will affect the operations of Sta. Rita, San Lorenzo, Ilijan, Avion and San Miguel natural gas power plants in Batangas with a combined capacity of 3,200 megawatts.
Power rates historically go up at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity, during the Malampaya shutdown because of the tightness in supply.
“Normally, there is a coordination meeting set whenever there’s a Malampaya shutdown. All stakeholders will meet to ensure there is adequate supply and to also ensure minimal impact on consumers,” Fernandez said.
“We will get guidance from the Department of Energy to coordinate efforts to ensure reliable power during the planned shutdown. Past initiatives included IPSAs, ensuring availability of adequate alternative/liquid fuel, adjusting maintenance shutdowns of other power plants etc… All these will be considered by stakeholders during the coordination meetings,” said Fernandez.
The department is looking at mitigating measures to prevent price spikes during the expected shutdown of the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan in October.
“We don’t want to be unprepared. I want to know. They said October this year. What are preparations, measures that will be undertaken that there will be fuel for the plants that are dependent on them,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
Cusi said some natural gas power plants could run on condensate, which is also produced by the Malampaya gas field.
Cusi said he wanted to know if the condensate, a byproduct of natural gas currently exported by the consortium, could be utilized during the shutdown.
A source from the Service Contract 38 consortium said the shutdown would cover technical work at the offshore platform and onshore gas plant in Batangas. It would also involve repair of equipment, installation of critical spare parts and checking of instrumentation and controls.
The Malampaya consortium is composed of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Chevron Malampaya LLC, and state-owned PNOC Exploration Corp.
The Malampaya natural gas platform project underwent maintenance works in February 2017.