Mindanao power situation back to normal by June, says exec

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The power situation in Mindanao is expected to normalize by June 4, when all power plants in the grid are set to operate normally, according to government officials.

The state-owned National Transmission Corp. or TransCo found that an abrupt increase in electricity demand was not handled well by the antiquated Agus 1 hydroelectric power plant, company president Rolando Bacani said at a news briefing.

This caused power from Agus to trip, which then triggered a system-wide outage that affected the entire island of Mindanao.

Energy Undersecretary Raul Aguilos said that the Mindanao coal power plant, which had trouble restarting after the outage, was expected to resume operation of its first unit by May 4 and its second unit by June 4.