LOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines - Long power outages may now be adequately mitigated with the region's first-coal fired power plant currently generating 50 percent of its full capacity after successfully synchronizing its system with the grid of Panay Electric Company (PECO), Iloilo City's lone power distributor. Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC), which operates the 164-megawatt coal plant composed of two units, disclosed that its first unit was already generating 43.5-megawatts. Engr.
Henry Alcalde, PEDC Vice-President for Operations, said this will give PECO additional power supply for its consumers without having to resort to rotational blackouts. Over the past three months, Iloilo City has been reeling from three to five hours of rotating blackouts per day due to capacity deficiency. PECO's Engr. Randy Pastolero emphasized that as long as PEDC supplies enough power, PECO will continuously distribute such power amongst city consumers without any interruption. Meanwhile, Alcalde clarified that the coal plant is still on testing and commissioning stage, that is, the plant's compatibility in transmitting power to the PECO grid is still under evaluation, fixing, at the same time, any technical error that may arise at this current stage.
