POWER SOURCE The waters of Pulangi River power the Pulangi hydroelectric-generating plant in Bukidnon province to contribute to the electricity supply of Mindanao. Shown in this photo is a
section of the river in the village of Mascariñas in Kibawe town, Bukidnon. —ERWIN MASCARIÑAS
ILIGAN CITY — The National Power Corp. (NPC) has started water conservation measures to ensure that its hydroelectric power plants will continue to produce electricity for Mindanao amid the dry spell that is seen to last until early next year.
Larry Sabellina, NPC vice president for Mindanao Generation, said the NPC had activated its protocols to deal with the onset of El Niño after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration declared that the weather event would hit beginning July and August.
Contingency measures for the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric power plants are in place amid the “unpredictability” of weather conditions, Sabellina said.
NPC has retained ownership of the hydropower generating facilities along the rivers of Agus in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces, and Pulangi in Bukidnon province. These supply at least a fourth of Mindanao’s energy demand.
The Agus river mainly gets its water from Lake Lanao, at over 700 meters above sea level, in Lanao del Sur.
Before the onset of the El Niño, Sabellina said Lake Lanao, which acts as a natural reservoir for the Agus power plants, was at its normal water level of between 699.15 meters and 701.10 m.
Upon the declaration of El Niño’s onset, NPC started reducing the lake’s outflow by 9 percent or at 133 cubic meters per second.
Richard Reyes, NPC division manager for dams, reservoir and waterways management, said that from July 18 to Aug. 7, the Agus floodgates were left open to drain excess water in the lake.
The lake needs to have a minimum level of 698.15 m to enable NPC’s plants to run. But if water drops below this level, all plants will have to be shut down, Sabellina said.
As for Pulangi, he said they reduced the river’s flow downstream even as its level was still within the 282-m to 285.5-m level to ensure prolonged operation of its 255-megawatt power plant.
A water level below the 280-m mark shuts down the plant, Sabellina said.
Despite the weather bureau’s declaration of the onset of dry spell, Sabellina said Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur had experienced regular rainfall recently, helping improve local water supply.