ReliefWeb

QUEZON CITY, Jan. 5 - With its 24/7 power restoration efforts, the Department of Energy (DOE), together with its private institution partners has resumed electricity supply to 1,003,519 households or about 57% re-energization of Typhoon Nina-affected areas as of 4 January 2017.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said, “After restoring power in town centers and nearby communities, our ground personnel are working round the clock, even double time to bring back the power supply to all affected households in Southern Luzon and Bicol regions.”

Specifically, Sec. Cusi relayed, “We’ve already deployed 982 personnel from 52 participating energy companies and distribution utilities through the Task Force Kapatid to help restore power supply in the affected 99 municipalities and 7 cities.”

On transmission facilities, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines reported that only three transmission service connected to NGCP customers are still undergoing rehabilitation as of yesterday (3 January), which include Tabaco 20 Megavolt Ampere (MVA) Load-End Substation (LES) serving Albay Power & Energy Corp. (APEC); Malinao 5 MVA LES serving APEC; and Albay Agro-Industrial Development Corp. (ALINDECO) LES serving AboitizPower Renewable Incorporated’s Tiwi Geothermal Plant.

The following are the updates on restoration in the affected provinces as of 4 January 2017:

A) On Grid Areas:

For Sorsogon, the NEA reported that 46,366 households have been restored under the franchise area of Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative (SORECO II), while SORECO I is currently undergoing clearing and restoration of their distribution facilities.

Albay province, through the report of Albay Power and Energy Corporation (APEC), has restored 31% of all affected areas or a total of 68,668 households.

In Camarines Norte, all power facilities are up and running supplying electricity to its locals, while in Camarines Sur, there are still 296,219 households to be energized spread over the franchise areas of four (4) electric cooperatives in the province.

As reported by NEA, Quezon Province has reached 50% restoration status for all typhoon-affected areas, especially under the Quezon I Electric Cooperative.

For Batangas, NEA reported that Batangas II Electric Cooperative (BATELEC II) have attained 100% restoration, while BATELEC I stood at 90% or around 16,000 remaining households to be energized.

B) Off-grid Areas:

In the hard-hit province of Catanduanes, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported that the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) has counted 48,000 affected households undergoing restoration. Moreover, the National Power Corporation (NPC) reported that all affected government-owned power plants in the province are already in operation with a dependable capacity of 7.8 megawatts (MW), while among the privately-owned generation facilities totaling to 8.5 MW, only the 2.8 MW Sun West Corporation Hydroelectric Power is still non-operational due to flood water.

For Mindoro Island, NEA reported that 99% of households in Occidental Mindoro have been restored, while Oriental Mindoro stood at 68% re-energization or 120,682 households have experienced resumption of power supply.

While Marinduque’s generation and transmission facilities have been restored by NPC, there are still 43,200 affected households that are yet to be restored by Marinduque Electric Cooperative (MARELCO) as NEA reported.

All other off-grid areas (Masbate, Batangas, Camarines Sur and Marinduque Mini-Grids) under the supervision of NPC are back in operation awaiting restoration of distribution facilities.

“We’ve already added personnel and augmented assets through private institutions and we are continuously monitoring the progress of power restoration,” said Cusi. "We are exhausting all possible remedies to bring back the power in the affected areas the soonest possible. We cannot leave our kababayans until we have lighted each and every household affected by Typhoon Nina," Cusi concluded.(DOE)