THE Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (Daneco) will have an excess of 2 megawatts (MW) of contracted power supply when Therma South Inc. starts operations by March 2015.
Daneco OIC General Manager Benedicto Ongking said the electric cooperative last year suffered an average of more than two hours of rotating brownouts given the deficit of an average 15-MW power supply.
Most of last year, Daneco had a peak load of 72 MW and a total power supply of 53 MW, or a deficit of 19 MW. But by December 26, 2014, the deficit was reduced to about 9 MW, when Daneco purchased 10 MW in a 10-year power supply contract from Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) Power in Misamis Oriental.
The current power deficit can be more than neatly addressed by the coming 15-MW power supply from TSI, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp.
Thus, currently Daneco’s power sources come from 25 MW from Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM), 15 MW from Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), 13 MW from Engineering Equipment Inc. (EEI), and 10 MW from FDC.
For this year Daneco projected an increased peak load of 76 MW, and by March a total power supply of 78 MW from various power suppliers including TSI, for an excess of 2 MW.
“Starting March, Daneco expects to no longer have the current one to two hours rotating brownouts provided that all the power generators in Mindanao are operating normally,” Ongking said. It earlier forged a 20-year power supply contract with TSI.
Daneco, also known as Daneco-NEA for being with the National Electrification Administration, is now recovering from the more than three years of legal battles and organizational conflicts with the now-subdued rival Daneco-Cooperative Development Authority (Daneco-CDA) group.
Ongking said all of Daneco’s power obligations to power suppliers PSALM, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, and EEI Power Corp. are now on current accounts from past due or delinquent account status during the period of disputes.
As of December 31, 2014, it has P697 million current arrears, P112 million of which owed to PSALM is the restructured balance payable for three years from the original power obligation of P809 million, Ongking added.
Only P80 million was withdrawn from the approved P1.2-billion NEA loan for capital expenditure (capex) supposedly for 2009 to 2012 implementation, Ongking informed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan during its regular session on Monday. The capex loan was supposedly intended to rehabilitate Daneco’s deteriorated system,
facilities and infrastructures.
“About P1.1 billion from the capex loan was not yet released,” he added.
Much of the capex loan implementation was aborted when hostilities on legitimacy and control of management between Daneco-NEA and Daneco-CDA began in mid-2012.
The loan was sought by the original board of directors of the then untroubled Daneco.
Vice Gov. Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio Jr. lauded Daneco-NEA officials for now operating solely the power utility servicing all of Compostela Valley and most of the parts of Davao del Norte.
“We expect that you resume giving the best service in favor to our consumers,” Suaybaguio added.