Sual shuts down one power unit due to leak

One unit of Sual power plant. PHOTO FROM TEAMENERGY.PH

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan – The operators of the Sual coal-fired power plant shut down one its generating units Friday morning because of a boiler tube leak, but this was not expected to result in any interruption in Luzon’s power supply.

Froilan Gregory Romualdez, head for external affairs of Team Energy’s Sual Power Corp., said the company has not determined how many days it would take to repair the unit, which generates 600 Megawatts of electricity.

He said the damaged unit was scheduled for a maintenance shutdown on June 23.

Luzon field office director Efren Balaoing of the Department of Energy said the shutdown should not affect the supply of power to the Luzon grid, because it had an excess supply of 189 MW of electricity.

Romualdez said it would need a whole day to cool down the generating unit so engineers could determine the extent of the damage.

“It is difficult to say how long it would take to repair the unit. But there is nothing to worry about as the damage does not pose any danger. It is a normal part of (wear and tear),” he said.

The remaining unit of the Sual power plant, which also produces 600 MW, continued to run smoothly.

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