East Visayas power ‘almost stable’ — NGCP

This student will no longer have to study her lessons in the dark after the NGCP announced on Wednesday that power supply in Eastern Visayas is slowly stabilizing.
/Inquirer photo

TACLOBAN CITY — Power supply in Leyte and the rest of Eastern Visayas region is slowly stabilizing, two weeks after the strong earthquake damaged the transmission line and geothermal power plants in the province.

On Thursday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Eastern Visayas, composed of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar, was receiving 254 megawatts (MW) — more than its power demand of 210 MW.

Green Core Geothermal Corp. provided 40 MW, while 214 MW came from Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant.

Still, power interruption should be expected, said Edna Legaspina, NGCP information officer.

Legaspina explained that 210 MW was just the power requirement of 11 electric cooperatives in the region that delivered power to the households.

“We have industries in the region like Pasar (Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.) which need higher power needs,” she said.

Pasar is a copper smelting company located at the Leyte Industrial Development Estate in Isabel town, Leyte. It manufactures electric cables, telecommunication wires, and copper-alloy products, among others.

Since the power supply was not yet stable, Legaspina said load shedding would continue especially during the peak hours.

The power supply in Eastern Visayas was knocked down after the 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Leyte on July 6.

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