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25% of Leyte geothermal electricity capacity to be reserved

25% of Leyte geothermal electricity capacity to be reserved Tongonan, Leyte Geothermal power plant, Philippines
Alexander Richter 26 Apr 2010

There is a current political drive by electric cooperatives in the region with the Energy Regulatory Commission that demands for the 25 percent of the total capacity of the Tongonan Geothermal Plant to be reserved for the entire Visayas region.

Reported from the Philippines,  the Governor of the Leyte province, ” Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla said he is in support of the move by electric cooperatives in the region with the Energy Regulatory Commission that demands for the 25 percent of the total capacity of the Tongonan Geothermal Plant to be reserved for the entire Visayas region as provided by law.

The 107,625-hectare Leyte Geothermal Production Field (LGPF), which straddles Ormoc and Kananga, generates 708 megawatts to supply the power needs of Visayas and Luzon.

The entire region, the governor said consumes only a small portion of the total power supply generated that there is no need to for the province and the region to suffer power outage.

Although, Gov. Petilla added, he is also open to talks with the present private owners of the geothermal plant to iron out creases that bar electric consumers in the region from fully enjoying power supply without interruption.

“If this is something that can be smoothed out by talking, it can spare us the hassle of going to other agencies to support our plight,” Gov. Petilla said.

He disclosed that initial findings from these geothermal plants after it became privatized revealed that some of the machines used in the power generation needed repair and was only operating before under contingency.

“We also have to consider that these are private owners running these plants now and we also have to consider what they have to put up with to ensure continuous operation,” the governor said.

Meanwhile, he reiterated his stand to lower power rates within the region by getting out of the Visayas grid.

As it has been learned, with Leyte and the entire region locked with the Visayas grid, expenses for power supplied to other regions are also passed to local power consumers.

Instituting an exclusive power grid, the governor disclosed, may prove even more beneficial to local power consumers in the long run.

“We would only then be paying for our own generation charges, our own transmission charges and not carry the burden for costs of transmission to other regions,” the governor said.”

Source: Samar News