OZAMIZ CITY--The water level in Lake Lanao where the Agus plants draw water for electricity has gone down to an alarming level requiring an increase in power curtailment levels or longer periods of brownout, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Wednesday.
Pedro Ambos, officer-in-charge of the Operations and Planning department of the National Power Corporation (NPC)-Mindanao Generation, said there is a possibility that Lake Lanao’s water level will hit the curtailment point of 699.16 meters above sea level this March. At present, the given level is only 10 meters away at 699.25 meters above sea level.
February 23, NGCP corporate communications officer Betty Martinez said they started the power load curtailment 8:00 in the morning, anticipating the deficiency of 358 megawatts (MW) of power supply in the Mindanao grid for its period of peak demand of 1,220 MW as against available capacity of only 863 MW.
This power supply deficiency increased 130 percent from its previous level of 156 MW two weeks ago, as the hydro plants were churning power at only 50 percent of rated capacity, Martinez added.
NGCP’s advisory said the Agus Plant is running at 120 MW out of total rated capacity of 727 MW while the Pulangi Plant is running at 100 MW out of total rated capacity of 255 MW.
Contributing to the deficiency in Mindanao’s power generation capability is the non-availability of Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) which has a capacity of 35 MW and the planned outage of Power Barge 117 which has a capacity of 50 MW, NGCP added.
Earlier, Eugene Bicar, head of NGCP’s Mindanao-Systems Operations, has pointed to the resumption of the operation of IDPP as among several short-term measures that can be adopted in order to address the current situation.
Meanwhile, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Alonto-Adiong Jr. said Lake Lanao’s dip in water level is due not only to the prevailing El Niño phenomenon but to alleged neglect of concerned agencies and entities over the preservation of its surrounding watersheds and river tributaries.
Adiong added that he hired Engr. Pipalawan Naga, a local hydrology and environmental expert, to delve into the Lake Lanao problem following persistent reports on the status of the lake’s water level posed on the prevailing power shortage.
“The water level in Lake Lanao has gone down from critical to very alarming level. If this situation continues unabated, Mindanao in particular and the country in general will be in trouble,” Adiong quoted Naga as saying.
It was learned that cases of alleged illegal logging in the lake’s remaining 180,000-hectare watersheds and surrounding mountains have hardly been checked, causing soil erosions to silt heavily the four main river tributaries of Lake Lanao, a report from the Manila Bulletin said.
In another Presentation Paper entitled “Man and Environment: The Case of Lake Lanao,” by Dr. Ali Macawaris and Associate Professor Medior Mamoko of MSU College of Engineering stated that Lake Lanao has a surface area of 356.6 square kilometers. It is shallowest in the northern portion and becomes progressively deeper towards the south.
“An extensive area with depth greater than 110 meters is located at Balut Maito and Masla Islands. Its maximum depth is about 112 meters. Its volume is about 21.5 cubic kilometers and the records of maximum and minimum surface elevation are 702.92 and 698.59 meters, respectively,” Macawaris and Mamoko said.
Lake Lanao watershed includes Lake Lanao, about thirty rivers feeding water into the lake. Aside from the four biggest rivers named Ramain, Taraka, Gata, and Masiu, the Agus River is the only outlet of the lake.
Both professors believed NPC’s operation of Agus hydro plants in Lake Lanao attributed to the low water level in the area which in affected fisheries, agriculture, domestic water needs, and transportation system of the lake, including the religious practices of Maranaos in performing their religious obligations “because they have to walk a certain distance, at many points up to 200 meters, between the lake water and the mosques to perform their ablution.”
“The Maranaos around the lake are using the lake water as drinking water to satisfy their health and hygiene needs. The lowering of the water level is causing them inconvenience because they have to walk a certain distance, in some cases 200 m, bathing and washing purposes,” the two professors from Marawi said.
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO & MICHAEL MEDINA
www.micmedina.tk
Pedro Ambos, officer-in-charge of the Operations and Planning department of the National Power Corporation (NPC)-Mindanao Generation, said there is a possibility that Lake Lanao’s water level will hit the curtailment point of 699.16 meters above sea level this March. At present, the given level is only 10 meters away at 699.25 meters above sea level.
February 23, NGCP corporate communications officer Betty Martinez said they started the power load curtailment 8:00 in the morning, anticipating the deficiency of 358 megawatts (MW) of power supply in the Mindanao grid for its period of peak demand of 1,220 MW as against available capacity of only 863 MW.
This power supply deficiency increased 130 percent from its previous level of 156 MW two weeks ago, as the hydro plants were churning power at only 50 percent of rated capacity, Martinez added.
NGCP’s advisory said the Agus Plant is running at 120 MW out of total rated capacity of 727 MW while the Pulangi Plant is running at 100 MW out of total rated capacity of 255 MW.
Contributing to the deficiency in Mindanao’s power generation capability is the non-availability of Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) which has a capacity of 35 MW and the planned outage of Power Barge 117 which has a capacity of 50 MW, NGCP added.
Earlier, Eugene Bicar, head of NGCP’s Mindanao-Systems Operations, has pointed to the resumption of the operation of IDPP as among several short-term measures that can be adopted in order to address the current situation.
Meanwhile, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Alonto-Adiong Jr. said Lake Lanao’s dip in water level is due not only to the prevailing El Niño phenomenon but to alleged neglect of concerned agencies and entities over the preservation of its surrounding watersheds and river tributaries.
Adiong added that he hired Engr. Pipalawan Naga, a local hydrology and environmental expert, to delve into the Lake Lanao problem following persistent reports on the status of the lake’s water level posed on the prevailing power shortage.
“The water level in Lake Lanao has gone down from critical to very alarming level. If this situation continues unabated, Mindanao in particular and the country in general will be in trouble,” Adiong quoted Naga as saying.
It was learned that cases of alleged illegal logging in the lake’s remaining 180,000-hectare watersheds and surrounding mountains have hardly been checked, causing soil erosions to silt heavily the four main river tributaries of Lake Lanao, a report from the Manila Bulletin said.
In another Presentation Paper entitled “Man and Environment: The Case of Lake Lanao,” by Dr. Ali Macawaris and Associate Professor Medior Mamoko of MSU College of Engineering stated that Lake Lanao has a surface area of 356.6 square kilometers. It is shallowest in the northern portion and becomes progressively deeper towards the south.
“An extensive area with depth greater than 110 meters is located at Balut Maito and Masla Islands. Its maximum depth is about 112 meters. Its volume is about 21.5 cubic kilometers and the records of maximum and minimum surface elevation are 702.92 and 698.59 meters, respectively,” Macawaris and Mamoko said.
Lake Lanao watershed includes Lake Lanao, about thirty rivers feeding water into the lake. Aside from the four biggest rivers named Ramain, Taraka, Gata, and Masiu, the Agus River is the only outlet of the lake.
Both professors believed NPC’s operation of Agus hydro plants in Lake Lanao attributed to the low water level in the area which in affected fisheries, agriculture, domestic water needs, and transportation system of the lake, including the religious practices of Maranaos in performing their religious obligations “because they have to walk a certain distance, at many points up to 200 meters, between the lake water and the mosques to perform their ablution.”
“The Maranaos around the lake are using the lake water as drinking water to satisfy their health and hygiene needs. The lowering of the water level is causing them inconvenience because they have to walk a certain distance, in some cases 200 m, bathing and washing purposes,” the two professors from Marawi said.
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO & MICHAEL MEDINA
www.micmedina.tk
0 comments:
Post a Comment