COUNCILOR Louie John Bonguyan, committee chair on water and energy, announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that Therma South Inc. (TSI) is fast-tracking the finalization of a feasibility study for units 3 and 4 to expand its generation capacity.
The facility’s phase-two development comes as the city experiences growing power demand and vulnerability to spot market price spikes.
“They’re still in their feasibility study, ginacheck pa nila tanan. Hindi lang sa TSI Davao, but also in their head office in Manila,” Bonguyan said, adding that TSI representatives are expected to report back to the City Council by November or December.
Davao Light currently requires around 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity; it contracts only 108 MW from TSI under its existing bilateral agreement.
Previously, Atty. Alona Borromeo, AboitizPower Transition Business Group Corporate Services head, reported that TSI is currently operating at full capacity, producing 300 MW gross and 270 MW net output, with 30 MW reserved for internal plant operations.
With this, approximately 92% or 249 MW of its net capacity is contracted to 22 distribution utilities and electric cooperatives across Mindanao through Competitive Selection Processes (CSP). The remaining 8% is supplied directly to WESM.
To note, in March 2014, the Davao City Council approved Phase II of the plant, two additional 172-MW coal-fired units, which would apparently expand total capacity to 645 MW.
Bonguyan emphasized that securing these additional units is vital to forestall rotational brownouts, noting that minor maintenance shutdowns in other regional plants can rapidly trigger yellow or red alerts.
Meanwhile, the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) with TSI to mitigate the impact of fluctuating electricity rates is still pending.
Bonguyan said this is viewed as an immediate safety net while long-term capacity expansions from TSI remain pending.
Henriczar Tia, DLPC president and chief operating officer, in an earlier interview, said TSI has an excess capacity of around 20 megawatts (MW) for this EPSA.
The councilor said available generating capacity from TSI and other base-load power plants provides an opportunity for DLPC to secure dependable and competitively priced power.
Bonguyan stressed that securing energy reserves ahead of time is critical to matching Davao City’s rapid commercial growth.
“Kung naay gusto magtukod og planta, ma Davao City man o dili, now is the time, dili lang ta maghulat nga mag rotational brownout na ta,” he said.
Investment-wise, Bonguyan said the city government has the potential to host steel plants and other large industries, hence the need for surplus electricity for future use.