La Niña could affect power supply from solar plants
THE weak La Niña that is expected to affect the country next month until the first quarter of 2018, might also affect the power supply of the Visayas area.
According to Lou Arciaga, information officer of the Department of Energy (DOE) -7, the weather phenomenon may affect power supply, especially to areas that are relying on solar power energy.
La Niña results to prevalent heavy rainfall and flooding.
Arciaga said that frequent rains and cloudy skies can affect the power supply production of solar power plants in the Visayas.
“Solar power plants are dependent on the radiance of the sun. So it’s not that dependable like those other renewable energy plants. It can fluctuate from hour to hour,” Arciaga said.
Currently, solar energy power plants contribute about 5.23 percent or 350 megawatts of the total power supply in the Visayas. Most solar farms are located in Negros Island, some in Leyte and in Toledo City, in Cebu province.
Power supply from coal power plants remain as the main source of power in the region and in the whole country, with 45.78% contribution followed by geothermal plants with 41.19%.
Meanwhile, the DOE-7 is expecting a slight increase in the demand of electricity for the month of December because of the Christmas holidays.
For now, DOE-7 recorded around 1,869 megawatts demand on electricity in the morning and 1,883 megawatts demand on electricity in the afternoon in Cebu while its capacity is at 2,412 megawatts.
“This only means that our Christmas and New Year outlook for power supply is okay,” she added.
She also assured the public that Cebu has enough and excess power supply, and that she has not received any schedule for power plant maintenance from the power providers.
Power plants from Leyte are now operational as well, after it was damaged by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake last July.
But from 722 megawatts capacity, the power plants are now producing only 480 megawatts.
DOE7 will be celebrating National Energy Consciousness Month in December.
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