Gov’t rushes Pulangui rehab

State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) is picking up the pace of rehabilitation of the 255-megawatt Pulangui IV hydroelectric power plant in Bukidnon, to help minimize the power interruptions that have been plaguing the island since the beginning of the year.

In a statement, Napocor said it was now working double time to complete by May 16 the rehabilitation of the power plant to increase the capacity of the 26-year-old Pulangi facility by 100 MW to 355 MW, which in turn, will help cut the number of hours of outages in Mindanao.

As of Thursday, the Mindanao grid posted a power supply deficit of 276 MW, resulting in two hours a day of power interruptions.

The May 16 target, however, was only three days ahead of the original schedule of May 19.

Napocor has earmarked P7.11 million for the rehabilitation of the Pulangui IV.

This will be the first time that the power facility will undergo any major repair work since it started operating in 1986.

Rudy P. Brioso, Napocor vice president for Mindanao generation, reported that the shutdown will pave the way for the repair of the plant’s headrace channel/surge pool, as well as the preventive maintenance servicing (PMS) of the plant’s three turbine generator units.

“All the contingency and safety measures related to the shutdown of Pulangui IV are already in place, and we will update management on the progress of the rehabilitation project, as we aim to fast-track the repair works and the PMS,” Brioso said in a report to Napocor president Froilan A. Tampinco.

Among other benefits, the rehabilitation project is aimed at restoring the stability of the headrace channel and the surge pool riprap protection.

Stretching some 9.5 kilometers, the headrace channel is the part of the power plant where the water used to run Pulangui IV passes through, before it goes to the turbine generator units.

According to Brioso, the rehabilitation project has been in Napocor’s work program as early as last year.