THE 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan combined-cycle power plant, which accounts for about 15 percent of the Luzon power-grid requirement, is now running at 900 MW after repairs were done by Kepco Ilijan Corp.
“Ilijan’s capability now is at 900 MW,” said Mylene Capongcol, director for Electric Power Industry Management Bureau of the Department of Energy (DOE), in a text message on Monday.
The power plant is composed of two units with a capacity of 600 MW each. Block A, or the first unit, was put on a maintenance shutdown on January 12 due to “damaged compressor turbine and casing.”
“Ilijan GT1-1 was synchronized to the grid on January 15, while the steam synchronization happened [on January 19]. The current capability of Ilijan Block A is 300 MW,” Capongcol said.
The remaining 300 MW of Ilijan Block A could be made available after repairs are completed. “Full repair of Block A unit is targeted [in] early March,” the DOE official added, who earlier said that repairs could last until March 3.
Ilijan Block B was put on forced outage on January 13 due to “condenser tube leak.” This was later repaired and restored on January 16.
“Block B is fully restored. It is now at 600 MW,” Capongcol said.
Based on the power-situation outlook provided by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, power remains stable for January 20 as capacity is estimated at 8,278 MW, with a system peak demand of 6,971 MW and reserves hitting at 1,307 MW.
Meanwhile, Ilijan Block B is scheduled to undergo a maintenance outage during the very same time that the Malampaya natural- gas facility goes offline from March 15 to April 15. The Malampaya gas field in offshore Palawan supplies natural gas to two more natural-gas power plants in Luzon, the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo power plants, both owned by the Lopez Group.
Several power plants, with a total capacity of 4,162.6 MW will either go on scheduled maintenance shutdown, or forced outage, until July of this year.